Fairy Tail: Rekindle
by darkmist111
Summary: Fairy Tail - a life filled with magic, mystery, and adventure. As one wizard finds her place in the guild she dreamed so long for, she'll learn that sometime it's not all fun and games.
1. 1 Dreams of Fairies, Part 1

**Hello this is Darkmist111,**

**I know most of you have never heard of me. However I'm willing to bet that most of you have heard of this fanfiction, if not you've probably heard of the original author Zero the Leech. Now before you start flaming and calling me an unimaginative SOB please take a look at Zero's latest update. For those of you who don't care enough to do that let me summarize. Unfortunately Zero the Leech has retired from the world of fanfiction for the most part while I'm just as disappointed as you are he has not left us empty handed. He is taking auditions with promising writers to take over his stories. I was lucky enough to be given the honor of this story. It is a huge honor but also a lot of pressure to be given this story. While I may never meet the exact image of Zero the Leech's story I hope that with time I will create a story deserving of his name. Please feel free to make any comments you feel you need to make though I ask you to go easy on me for the first couple chapters I make, after that feel free to tear me a new one. I will take any flames and make the best of them. Thank you for reading and I hope I live up to your expectations.**

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**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

Note: First time author of Fairy Tail – third time author of any story. Being new to Fanfiction, my attention has inadvertently been split between three different sections: Naruto, Dissidia, and Fairy Tail. I will try my best to alternate between all three of them and hopefully gain your approval. I don't expect this story to take off right away, but I won't give up on it. So please read and enjoy.

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**Chapter One: Dreams of Fairies, Part ****1**

Olender Town – a thriving city situated on the border between Fiore and its neighboring country of Seven. It was rather small in comparison to the larger towns like the capital of Era, but the town prospered well in commerce. Shops and stalls existed every three feet, selling various goods from both countries, including unique items not normally seen in the magical lands of Fiore. The row of mountains in the distance acted as the natural border between the two countries and the surrounding grass fields seemed to stretch forever. In fact, the only sensible way to reach Olender was by train.

At the Olender Station, the hub was unimaginably packed due to the number of people either arriving from Seven or was leaving the country. But one of the people exiting the train came all the way from the town of Magnolia with an excited grin on her face. She was a young woman – possibly in her mid-teens – with short, black hair and dark-blue eyes. She wore a low-cut, scarlet shirt with a light-gray coat over top, pitch-black jeans with a tan belt, a pair of black sneakers, and a crimson sling back over her left shoulder. The one thing that drew a lot of attention – whether she like it or not – was the dark-blue tattoo barely visible on her left breast. Anyone who from Fiore who saw this mark would recognize her as a member of the most famous (and troublesome) guild in the country: Fairy Tail.

"Whoa, dad wasn't kidding." The raven-haired teen whistled impressively, looking around the crowded station. "This place is huge!"

"_**This is Ur Fullbuster – a bright and beautiful member of the Wizard Guild, Fairy Tail. She is a modest girl, but has, unfortunately, inherited more than just her father's magic.**_"

"Um…excuse me, miss." Ur blinked, looking over to the red-faced station manager. "Um…Sorry, but we have a strict dress code in Olender."

"Like what?" Ur asked confused.

"Like you actually have to be wearing something." The manager replied embarrassingly.

Looking momentarily stupefied, Ur Fullbuster looked down and realized that her shirt and jacket were missing, leaving her green and whitestriped bra exposed to the public. Men were staring pervertedly, women were seething furiously, and parents were coving their children's innocent eyes from this shameless act. Not for the first time in her life, Ur covered herself as best as she could, contemplating how she hasn't already died of embarrassment.

"Damn you, dad!" Ur screamed.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the merchant district of Olender, a small magic shop stood out between a coffee house and boutique. Now magic shops were all that uncommon in Olender – it was one of the leading exports and imports in the city. But this particular magic shop caught the interest of someone rather…unique. The owner of the shop – an old man with a long white beard and purple robe that made him look like Merlin – was rearranging his stock when the bell over the front door alerted him of a new customer. The Merlin-wannabe stumbled quickly behind the counter, nearly tripping once or twice, and presented himself formally before having a chance to look over his potential buyer.

He hadn't expected to find a little girl alone, especially one that looked only to be in her mid-teens. She had light-tan skin – a feature usually seen in people from Seven – with chocolate-brown eyes and waist-length golden-blond hair. Her hair was tied into a lengthy ponytail by a blue ribbon and wild fringes in the front. She wore a pair of navy-blue jeans with a black belt, a pair of black sneakers, a pure-white tube top with a sleeveless jean jacket over top, and sections of bandages covering her wrists. A black string was wrapped around her neck like a necklace, carrying a golden key shaped like a vase with a blue symbol.

"Greetings!" The owner welcomed politely. "Welcome to my magic shop! I hope you find everything…"

"Why are you in a dress?" The girl asked bluntly; the owner face-faulted.

"It's not a dress; it a wizard's robe!" The shop owner exclaimed.

"Whatever." The girl said nonchalantly with his hands behind her head.

"_**This feisty young lady is Izumi – an ambitious, headstrong, and assertive wizard that loves a challenge. She has just recently moved to Fiore from her homeland, Seven.**_"

"Hey, uh…cross-dresser guy…" Izumi said in a bored manner, ignorant to the throbbing vein on the man's neck. "I'm kinda looking for something special, so think you can help?"

"Of course! I've got everything a lovely young wizard like could ask for!" The shop owner shouted excitedly, suddenly forgetting the fact that the girl had unconsciously insulted him. He bended down behind the counter, returning with a satin box holding a silver key. "I couldn't helping noticing that you're carrying a Gate Key, so I thought you might enjoy this. It's really popular among the ladies: the Canis Minor."

"We're on the right track, but I'm not looking for Silver Keys." Izumi proclaimed, surprising the owner. "Besides, me and dogs don't exactly have a good history together. What I'm really looking for is **Golden **Gate Keys."

"Golden Gate Keys, huh?" The shop owner hummed thoughtfully, replacing the silver key behind the counter. "Sorry, I don't really have any Golden Gate Keys. If I did, I'd be filthy rich."

"But this is the twelfth magic shop I been to in this town!" Izumi whined, slapping her hands on the hardwood. "Don't you know anyone that might have one in stock?"

"Golden Gate Keys are a lot different than Silver Gate Keys." The shop keeper explained sympathetically. "Silver Gate Keys have hundreds of copies that they can easily be bought in stores like this one. But Golden Gate Keys are so rare that only one exists for each of the twelve Zodiac signs, meaning there only twelve in all. If you're looking for Golden Gate Keys, you're not going to find them in a magic shop."

"That stinks." Izumi sighed as she made her way to the door, much the owner's disappointment. She had grabbed the handle when curiosity got the best of her. "Hey…have you ever heard of…Black Gate Keys before?"

"Black Gate Keys." The shop keeper repeated strangely. "I know I'm not one of those Guild Wizards, but even I know there's no such thing as a Black Gate Key."

"Yeah, you right – stupid question!" Izumi laughed nervously.

The foreign teenager didn't wait to see the shop keeper's suspicious expression before she hightailed it out of there, slamming the door behind her hard enough to knock some of the merchandise off its shelf. Izumi ran down the street and around the corner before she was certain that the wizard wannabe had no intention of scolding her. The tan-skinned girl leaned against the brick wall and sighed heavily, scolding herself for blurting out something like that. Of course no one had ever heard of a Black Gate Key – such as thing doesn't even exist even in a place like Fiore. But Izumi couldn't resist asking. Ever since she was little, she had dream after dream of a key as black as the midnight sky and shaped like the famous Gate Keys with an unknown symbol in neon-blue. She had looked over many books on constellations, but none of them looked after like the one she had seen in her dreams. And then there – Ugh, she was giving herself a headache.

"Thinking too hard again?" A monotonous voice asked.

Izumi blinked for a moment and, instead of looking around, stared straight down at her feet. She found a royal-purple cat with piercing-gold eyes that barely came up to Izumi's shins – people of Earth Land had come to know them as Exceeds. The small feline wore a pair of form-fitting, white pants with a matching shirt, a lavender coat over top, and a red opal pendant around her neck. Her eyes narrowed in a scowling manner, which seemed more amusing that intimidating to the immigrant teen.

"_**This is Blaise – a stern, yet kind-hearted Exceed with plenty of magical potential. She is currently one of ten candidates to become the next ruler of the Exceeds.**_"

"Hey, Blaise." Izumi greeted cheerfully, kneeling closer to her friend. "Where've you been?"

"I'm the one that should be asking." Blaise sighed exasperatedly. "We're not in Fiore for an hour and you're already running off causing trouble. Marina has been running rampant looking for you – it's amazing you have heard all the bloodcurdling screams of the people who got in her way."

"Whoa, she's real pissed, isn't she?" Izumi laughed fearfully; she may as well be knocking on Death's door. "C'mon, you can really blame me. This is my first time in Fiore and I want to see everything." She stared up into the cloudless, blue sky with a smile adorned on her face. "You've heard all the stories: Fiore is the capital of magic in the world."

"Other countries like Seven don't really practice magic often." Blaise nodded in agreement. "Instead, they devote their time and money in developing advanced technology, which in and of itself is an amazing accomplishment. But still…" She mimicked her friend's gaze. "Being here, in the land where my ancestors found roots, it feels more like home than Seven."

"But the best things about Fiore is the Guilds." Izumi smiled brightly. "Organizations filled with strong wizards devoted to practicing magic, going on awesome adventures, and becoming super famous. Oh, I would just love to join a wizard guild."

"But there is one guild in particular that you're thinking of." Blaise smiled softly.

"One day…" Izumi claimed passionately. "I'm going to join the Fairy Tail Guild. You can count on it."

The purple Exceed remained silent, letting Izumi slip away into her fantasy world. For as long as she could remember, Marina would always tell them bedtime stories about Fairy Tail and their many insane, impossible adventures. Izumi's favorite stories were centered around Fairy Tail's famous salamander, Natsu Dragneel. It would be an understatement to say she admired him – it was more along the borders of obsession. If Blaise had to guess, she would have to say that Izumi was picturing herself going on a mission with her idol, beating up monsters and hunting down treasure. That may not have been the best moment to daydream as she was sitting in the middle of the street, completely oblivious to her surroundings. As expected, a random pedestrian was running through the streets as if his life depended on it and accidentally crashed into the foreign teenager. A sharp squeal followed by a loud crash and both of them were thrown to the ground. If she was capable of doing such, Blaise would have laughed at her friend's current predicament. Izumi was on the ground with a large lump on her head and her assailant was sprawled out on top of her; his face buried in her ample bosom. The immigrant girl, feeling a sudden weight on her chest, looked down curiously. You can pretty much guess what happens next.

"HENTAI!" Izumi exclaimed, throwing the man off with a deadly uppercut. "Is this how people in Fiore act? You're all disgusting perverts!"

"I-I'm sorry!" The pervert – a young adult with messy, black hair – recovered with only a black eye. "It was a complete accident; I didn't mean it!"

"Oh, so I'm not good enough for you?" Izumi sneered insulting.

"You're angry because I'm apologizing?" The man exclaimed dumbfounded.

"She's very sensitive about her looks." Blaise commented.

"Ugh! I don't have time for this." The man groaned frustrated. "I need to…"

"Need to what, Tomo."

The flustered man suddenly went stiff as a strong hand landed on his shoulder. Without any of them noticing, a group of three muscular men had appeared from behind. How they managed to sneak on them was a mystery – these guys were giants! Izumi quickly jumped to her feet, suddenly feeling restless with these newcomers. They were all dressed in Arabian style clothing like the character from the Magic Lamp book Izumi liked to read. The only difference between them was that they were color-coded between red, blue and green. It was Blaise who pointed out the matching tattoos on their biceps: a pair of roaring flames with a beast's head between them. They were from a wizard guild and, based on the pervert's panicked expression, they weren't a friendly guild.

"Where ya going, Tomo?" A wizard in blue said playfully. "You weren't planning on bailing on us, were ya?"

"O-o-of course not." The pervert known as Tomo answered anxiously. "You told me not to leave, so I'm not."

"Hey, Tomo, it's almost the end of the month and you still haven't paid up." The red wizard grunted lowly. "The boss is not a patient man, so you better pay up quick."

"I said I'd pay you back and I will!" Tomo exclaimed worriedly. "Just give me a little more time; I swear I'll get it!"

"Ya know, I almost believe him." The green wizard snickered, snatching the scruffy man by the nape of his shirt. "But just in case, why don't we give him a little incentive to remind him."

"No…please…" Tomo pleaded pathetically.

"That's enough!" The trio of guild wizards blinked stupidly, turning their attention down the road. Izumi and Blaise glared at the bulky men with their arms crossed seriously, looking ready to strike at a moment's notice. "I think you've made your point, so let him go."

"Or else what, little girl." The blue wizard cackled.

"Or else, you'll have to deal with me."

The immigrant from Seven hummed curiously and looked to her left as Ur Fullbuster emerged around the corner – her shirt and coat were still MIA. Though possibly only a year older than Izumi and half the size of these gorilla guild members, Ur sauntered confidently between the foreigner and her Exceed partner. While in close proximity of the Fairy Tail wizard, Izumi felt goosebumps roll in waves across her skin from the chill that Ur was giving off. Seven's climate was a naturally hot country with temperatures that only went as low as the seventies. The freezing atmosphere that Ur was giving off was completely different experience for Izumi. But even being caught in a fight between two wizard guilds, only one thing came to the foreign girl's mind.

"What happened to your pants?" Izumi asked innocently.

"Oh crap!" Ur screamed, embarrassed to be seen in only her underwear. "Why does this keep happening?"

"This chick's a little weird, but she puts on a good show." The blue-clothed wizard snickered pervertedly. Ur whined with the bulky bandits practically eye-humping her. Their expressions changed slightly when they locked on to her breasts, or more specifically, her guild mark. "Look at that, boys. This chick is with Fairy Tail."

"_Fairy Tail…?_" Izumi thought amazingly. "_She's in Fairy Tail?_"

"Boss hates people from Fairy Tail." The green-clothed wizard proclaimed, throwing Tomo to the side; the guy wasted no time running away. "If we bring her back to the boss, I bet he'll let us have some fun with her before he snaps her neck."

"Sounds good to me." The red-clothed wizard nodded.

The guild members, as Izumi quickly learned, specialized in Re-quipping magic based on the various assortments of weapons they summoned to their hands. Armed with heavy artillery, the bulking brutes charged ahead with a wave of battle cries – Ur was trying to keep herself from laughing out loud. The Fairy Tail wizard smirked confidently while stretching her arms outward, settling her closed fist over her open palm. Izumi watched carefully as Ur's crystal-blue circle flashed briefly before the temperature dropped by another fifty degrees – the foreign girl was afraid of dying from hypothermia. Ur smiled confidently – all the preparation were complete. The half-naked woman of Fairy Tail brought her hands up and cupped them around her mouth like a funnel.

"**Ice-Make: Roar!**" Ur shouted.

As she exhaled, a long stream of sparkling mist was blown from her mouth and glided down the street. The brutish wizards didn't even bother defending themselves against Ur's magic and charged straight into the vapor. That was probably _**the **_stupidest ideas in history. Ur lowered hands to disconnect the magical flow, allow the crystal mist to settle. Once the fog had finally settled, all three members of the unknown guild were literally frozen stiff – their bodies coated in thick shells of ice. Izumi gasped in astonishment with newfound admiration for the Ice-Make wizard, but Blaise on the other hand…

"Very impressive." Blaise complimented. "You took out those three meatheads no problem, but…" She used her paw to point down the street, which was completely frozen – pedestrians and all. "But you may have gone a little overboard."

"Oops." Ur giggled shyly. "My bad."

"That was so cool!" Izumi cheered, surprisingly Ur a little. "And I can say that figuratively and literally! The way you took on those goons without even trying – that's what I'd expect from a Fairy Tail wizard!" She quickly calmed down her fan-girlish impulses, looking mighty embarrassed of her outburst. "Sorry about that. It's just that I'm a huge fan of Fairy Tail. My name is Izumi, by the way." She waved a hand to her Exceed partner. "And this is Blaise."

"Pleased to meet you." Blaise greeted civilly.

"My name's Ur Fullbuster – Fairy Tail wizard." Ur replied kindly. "Um…you haven't seen my pants anywhere, have you?"

* * *

The expedition for Ur's missing clothing took little over an hour and the most they could find was her pants, belt, and sneakers – her coat and shirt were probably long gone. Though it seemed very odd to be asking complete strangers in a strange, yet somewhat hilarious mission, Ur felt that Izumi was a trustworthy companion. She had volunteered to assist the half-naked wizard without question, opposite of Blaise, who demanded a bucket-load of freshwater salmon in return. There's a good two thousand jewels down the drain. The girls were later seen sitting in the park on Olender's east side – Ur and Izumi sipping their drinks and Blaise still carrying her bucket of fish.

"So, Izumi and Blaise, was it?" Ur asked; the two nodded in response. "Judging by the way you look, I take it you're not from Fiore." She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, fearing that she had insulted her new friend. "I-I didn't mean for that to sound so racist. It's just that people from Fiore have…um…"

"Lighter skin?" Izumi suggested; Ur scolded herself internally. "Hey, don't worry about it - I know you didn't mean anything by it." She set her drink off to the side. "Yeah, Blaise and I are from the Seven, the country that exists on the other side of the mountain. We just moved here today with our guardian, Marina."

"Who is probably super pissed by now." Blaise stated in an undertone.

"Marine used to live in Fiore before I was born." Izumi added happily. "She used to tell me all about the places she's been and the things she's seen. She used to tell me stories about all the famous wizards before bed and almost all of them were about Fairy Tail. There was Natsu the Dragon, Lucy the Princess, Erza the Knight, Wendy the Healer, and Gray the Naked Clown." Ur stiffed a laugh that this. "Ever since I was a little girl, I always dreamed of traveling to Fiore and seeing the magic for myself."

"They don't have magic in Seven?" Ur questioned surprisingly.

"Magic is frowned upon in Seven." Blaise replied monotonously. "Instead, they devote all their time into science and advanced technology – a lot of people believe that magic is nothing but smoke and mirrors." She casted a sad look to her partner. "It's the reason why Izumi didn't have many friends."

"Oh…I'm sorry." Ur murmured sadly.

"It's not your fault." Izumi grinned victoriously. "I never liked those creeps anyway. Now that I'm in Fiore, I'm gonna travel the country and see all kinds of magic."

"That's a good goal." Ur nodded in agreement; her eyes traveled to the golden key around her friend's neck. "So you must be a Celestial Wizard, right?"

"Nope." Izumi answered bluntly; Ur sweat dropped. "I couldn't use these Gate Keys to save my life. But that's not gonna stop me from collecting all twelve Golden Gate Keys."

"Wait a minute." Ur said clueless. "If you can't use Celestial Spirit Magic, then what's the point of collecting them."

"My mom was a Celestial Wizard." Izumi said softly, gently caressing the key. "She was the only wizard in history to collect all twelve Golden Gate Keys and meet the Celestial Spirit King. This key I have – Aquarius – was given to her by my grandmother and it was passed down to me shortly before she died." Ur lowered her gaze to the ground sadly. "I was only a baby when it happened. Marina was one of my mom's best friends and asked her to take care of me when she was gone. That's why Marina took me away to Seven and raised me there." She snapped her head to Ur, smiling despite the sad scenario. "She was a member of Fairy Tail, ya know."

"I kinda figured that out." Ur chuckled softly. "The only Celestial Wizard to collect all twelve Golden Gate Keys: Lucy Heartfilia."

"When I wear this key…" Izumi said passionately, pressing the item against her chest. "It's like I'm closer to her. And the more key's I collect, the better I'll be able to understand her feelings." She suddenly snaps back to Ur with an excited grin, making her jump slightly. "Hey, hey, what kind of magic can you use!"

"That was kinda random." Ur commented.

"She does that a lot." Blaise stated nonchalantly.

"You did that cool 'roar' thing back in town!" Izumi chattered eagerly. "Are you one of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayers?"

"No, no, I'm not even close to a real Dragon Slayer." Ur waved her hands in response. "My brand of magic is called Ice-Make – the same type as my dad. Ice-Make is one of the more powerful brands of magic because it can take on many different forms. My dad's _Static _Ice-Make can create inanimate objects and Uncle Lyon's _dynamic _Ice-Make can make living ice."

"What type of Ice-Make can you use?" Blaise questioned.

"At first, I could only use _Static _Ice-make." Ur proclaimed, suddenly sounding proud of herself. "But after watching Dragon Slayers like Gajeel and Wendy for so many years, I started making my own unique brand of Ice-Make that mimics their abilities. I call it _Slayer _Ice-Make Magic."

"You made up your own magic?" Izumi squealed in admiration. "That is so awesome! Fairy Tail is the best! I wish I could join!"

"Why don't you?" Ur suggested; Izumi and Blaise blinked stupidly. "If you want to join the Fairy Tail Guild, I could recommend you to the master."

"Really?" Izumi asked hopefully.

"…..No." Ur answered; Izumi face-faulted. "But I could ask my dad to recommend you. He and the Guild Master are really old friends and it doesn't hurt that your mom was Lucy Heartfilia. I'm sure they'll let you it."

"All right, let's do it!" Izumi screamed, pumping her fist in the air.

"Hold on a minute!" Ur shouted urgently, stopping her new friend before she went running off. "I'm here on a mission, so I can't go back to Magnolia until I've finished the job."

"Then perhaps we can help." Blaise offered, tossing her sadly empty bucket aside. "What's the job."

"The Dragon Fangs have been causing major trouble in Olender." Ur explained. "The mayor put out a huge reward for anyone that can take them out."

"The Dragon Fangs." Izumi repeated with a wide grin. "They sound cool!"

"They're so not cool." Ur huffed indignantly. They're one of the biggest Dark Guilds in Fiore right up there with teams like the Tartaros and Raven Tail. They used to be a no name guild called the Quarto Cerberus until some newcomer killed the previous Guild Master and took over, even changing the name of the guild. You already saw three of them earlier." She looked around suspiciously, making sure no one would overhear them. "Rumor has it that the new Guild Master used to be in Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail!" Izumi exclaimed shockingly. "That can't be right! No one in Fairy Tail could be that bad!"

"I wish I could say that was true." Ur sighed depressingly. "But there have been a number of people who have either left or betrayed Fairy Tail in the past, including the Third Guild Master's own son. And after the whole Twilight Ogre incident and the seven year slump, Fairy Tail lost a lot of good wizards along the way. It wouldn't surprise me if this new Guild Master was one of them."

"That bastard." Izumi growled, punching her fist into her palm. "Someone needs to teach that jerk about loyalty. Oh man, after I'm done with him, I gonna…"

"Gonna what?"

At the sound of the tone, Izumi and Blaise both visibly stiffened. They were reluctant at first, but both of them hesitantly turned around to stare into the face of death itself. Death was a surprisingly beautiful woman with choppy, sea-blue hair that touched down to her shoulders and dark-blue eyes that narrowed down on her target. She wore a royal-blue turtleneck sweater, a pair of navy-blue jeans, and a pair of white and blue sneakers.

Whoever she was, her presence manifested itself in an eerily-dark aura that seemed to scream eternal suffering and death. Though this was her first time meeting the woman, Ur had to agree that her sinister leer made her the scariest woman in the world – right up there with Erza and Mirajane.

"Gonna what, Izumi?" The woman said dangerously.

"**This beautiful, yet freighting woman is Marina – Izumi's legal guardian and caretaker. She has raised Izumi and Blaise since they were little and is very gifted in magic and discipline.**"

"H-h-hey, Marina." Izumi laughed anxiously, stepping on Blaise's tail to prevent her from escaping. If she was gonna go down, she was taking the cat with her, damn it! "Look! I made a new friend!"

"H-Hi, I'm Ur Full…" Ur began.

"Do you know how worried sick I was!" Marina scolded shrilly; a few pane glasses shattered in the background. "I've spent the good part of four hours – four hours I could have spent for myself – running around in a panic looking for you! We're not in Nibleheim anyone more – you can't just run off whenever you feel like it! At to make it worse, that stupid cat of yours can't even follow orders properly!"

"Hey!" Blaise snapped; Marina scowled. "Right. Stupid cat, stupid cat."

"I'm sorry, Marina." Izumi apologized. "But I was just so excited to be in Fiore that I couldn't help myself."

"Well, you had your fun." Marina crossed her arms sternly. "And now playtime is over. I booked us a room at the inn, so you both are grounded there."

"Grounded?" Izumi and Blaise exclaimed, but quickly quieted down under her demonic gaze. "Yes, ma'am."

With everything said and done, the blue-haired demon turned on her heel and marched away, expecting her charges to follow close behind. Izumi remained in place for a short moment, shoot a sad look to her new friend. Ur was Izumi's first real friend since Blaise and it was kind of depressing that they would have to say goodbye so soon. But the Ice-Make Wizard smiled in an understanding way, waving the blond foreigner away before her caretaker gets mad. Marina snapped her fingers a good distance away, causing Izumi to stand in attention and stand obediently at her guardian's side. Maybe when Marina calls down, she could ask to visit Magnolia some time. It was worth a shot.

* * *

Night had fallen over the town of Olender, but things were not as calm as one would hope. Hidden in one of the deepest back alleys, the three gorillas of the Dragon Fangs were thrown against the brick wall, practically beaten to within an inch of their lives. Their attack was cloaked in the shadows of the night, standing ominously over his shivering victims.

"So let me get this straight." The unknown assailant growled darkly. "You three, some of my best men, were beaten by a teenaged girl from Fairy Tail – Gray's little brat!" He smashed his fist into the wall just above their heads, leaving a large dent in its place. "You guys aren't really giving me a good reason why I shouldn't kill you."

"M-Master, we're sorry." The red-clothed wizard stammered fretfully. "We'll get her back, I swear."

"No…"The Dragon Fangs Guild Master responded lowly. "No, this is just fine. I have a score to settle with Gray Fullbuster anyway. And what better way to do it than with his own daughter – she'll be dead before she can even blink. After all, I used to be one of Fairy Tail's strongest wizards."

The Guild Master held out his open palm, surrounding coating it in a wave of fresh flames. The light radiating from the blaze illuminated the dark alley just enough to identify the mysterious Guild Master. He was a lean, well-built man with deathly-black eyes and hot-pink, spiky hair. He wore a sleeveless, black coat with gold trimmings, baggy white pants with a black waistcoat, a pair of black sandals, and a white scarf with a scale-like pattern. The tattoo of the Dragon Fang was printed in red on his right shoulder.

"Tell me, Gray…" The rosy-haired man snickered excitedly. "How does your brat stand against Fairy Tail's former Salamander?"

**Please, Read and review.**


	2. 2 Dreams of Fairies, Part 2

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

* * *

**Chapter Two: Dreams of Fairies, Part 2**

Nighttime in Olender Town was very…boring. Of course, that was only Izumi's opinion now that she was confined in her room at the local hotel they were staying with only Blaise to keep her company. Marina was beyond upset when she found her tan-skinned charge in the park four hours after she had disappeared that she barely gave Izumi a chance to explain herself. The foreign teen knew her guardian was only looking out for her, but grounding her for two months seemed a little overboard. Now with nothing else left to do, Izumi busied herself in a pile of Fiore's most popular magazine, Sorcerer Weekly, and Blaise was reclining in her little cat basket. The girls had asked earlier if the hotel had a television and the manager looked at them like they were crazy.

"Wow, there's a lot of cool stuff going on in Fiore." Izumi commented excitedly, flipping the page of her magazine. "Grand Magic games were just finished last week – looks like some team called White Crusade came in first place for the third year in a row. And someone named Azrael from Fairy Tail made number one on the Most Eligible Wizard Bachelor List – ooh, he's hot!"

"Where, might I ask, did you get those magazine's in the first place?" Blaise questioned, lazily lifting her head.

"I borrowed a few down in the lobby." Izumi answered nonchalantly, flipping through the pages. "It's the best thing to do so that I don't die of boredom. I mean, what kind of hotel doesn't have a single television?"

"Most people who come here probably don't stay long." Blaise stated pointedly. "This town is in the middle of nowhere and the only thing worthwhile here is the train station that moves between Seven and Fiore."

"I guess you're right." Izumi sighed in a bored manner. As she continued to flip through the pages, her hand suddenly stopped once she reached the Guild section. "Hey, Blaise, take a look at this. There's an article about Ur."

The royal-purple exceed tilted her head in genuine interest and force herself out of her comfortable position. She climbed her way onto the bed, having much difficulty due to her short stature, and ambled over besides her partner for have a good view of the page. Just as she said, there was a full interview of Ur Fullbuster that included her Guild name, some fact about her, and a full picture. Just like the real Ur, the only thing covering her upper body was a green/white striped bra – she at least had the decency to keep her pants on.

"Wow, she's only a year older than me." Izumi commented; her eyes wandering over the info section. "For some reason, I thought she was at least three years ahead. Hmm, the best quality about Fairy Tail is that it's full of exciting people. Her future dream is to find the perfect guy – you and me both, sister. She has a good relationship with Azrael and someone named Mana Alberona. And the most difficult job she had was stopping a lava lizard from destroying a village. Oh man, she is so cool – literally and figuratively!"

"Fairy Tail is full of interesting characters." Blaise said, flipping through one of the other magazines. "It's no wonder you admire them."

"To think, Fairy Tail was the Guild where my mom met my dad." Izumi smiled softly, leaning back into her bed with the magazine overhead. "If I could join Fairy Tail, I could go on exciting adventures and meet tons of people just like they did. To be a Fairy Tail Wizard – that's my dream."

"The boss was really mad tonight."

The tan-skinned teenager shot up in her bed, blinking curiously – the magazine had somehow landed on her head. A few rough voices were carrying from the street below through the open window on the other end of the room. It was past ten o'clock, which meant most of the stores were closed for the night. There were no bars or taverns in Olender Town, so there wasn't a possibly of a few stray drunkard walking around. With Blaise saddled on her shoulder, the foreign girl leaned closer to the window and peek through the opening down to the barely lit street. Surprisingly enough, the three thugs from the Dragon Fang that attacked earlier were walking around in the dead of night – the smell of burnt hair was apparent even from this distance. From her position, Izumi could point out the number of holes and burn marks on their clothing almost as if they had been caught in a fire fight.

"It's that stupid little Fairy stripper's fault!" Blue shouted annoyed. "If she hadn't gotten in the way, we could've done our job right."

"I didn't think a kid from Fairy Tail could be that tough." Red remarked dreadfully. "The boss doesn't like losing, especially if it's against those Fairy Tail bastards. Though I don't really get what he has against those guys anyway."

"I'm still trying to figure out why we're named after colors." Green said clueless.

"Well, we won't have to worry about that brat anymore." Red smirked confidently. "After the boss is done with that ice stripper, there'll be one less Fairy running around."

"That doesn't sound very nice." Blinking in a confused manner, the gorilla-like thugs looked between each other before turning back. A moment later, Izumi jumped down from her window on the second floor, landing gracefully on her feet, with her Exceed partner clamped firmly on her shoulder. "If you guys are talking about Ur, I might wanna have a word with this boss of yours."

"Hey, they were with the stripper earlier." Blue said pointedly.

"Ur's not a stripper!" Izumi yelled defiantly. "She's an exhibitionist!"

"You're not really helping." Blaise sweat-dropped.

"Hey since the boss is gonna be busy with that icy stripper…" Green chuckled lecherously. "Let's have a little fun with her little friend."

When a group of three eight-foot, bulky men started shooting perverted expressions, most women would have the common sense to run in the opposite direction. Izumi was doing her best to keep a straight face, which failed miserably in comparison to her stony-faced partner. The tri-colored wizards of the Dragon Fang charged forward like savage monkeys with their hand outstretched to nab the foreign teenager at the first opportunity.

Now Izumi was laughing.

* * *

At the same time, Ur Fullbuster was walking around the empty streets of Olender Town in the dead of night with no supervision, lights, or a shirt – she had given up on it a while back. What could possibly go wrong? Besides the occasional street trash that tried to stick bills in her bra, the Ice-Make Wizard found Olender Town to be very peaceful, which is a drastic change from the chaos of Fairy Tail Guild. Ur visibly frowned at the calm – she preferred broken glass and loud profanity over calm and quiet any day. The only highlight of her day was taking down a group of lowlife thugs and meeting Izumi.

The Ice-Make Slayer stopped in her track when thinking of the foreign girl. Though she was from a different country and probably didn't know the first thing about Fiore Wizards, there was no denying her genuine desire to join Fairy Tail. She could see it in Izumi's eyes – how they sparkled at the very mention of the troublesome Guild. Then again, Ur couldn't blame her since it was the same Guild where her mother had claimed as home. Having admired her own father since she was little, Ur could understand Izumi's need to be closer to the parent she never knew.

"I wonder what she's doing now." Ur murmured softly, staring up at the starry sky. "With a scary caretaker like hers, I'll bet she won't be getting off easy. Next time I see her, maybe I can ask her to come back with me to Magnolia. I bet she'd love to see the Fairy Tail Guild in person."

"There's been a slight change in plans, brat."

Ur gasped and swiftly slammed her fist into her open palm, calling on her frosty-blue Magic Circle to cover her hands. The shirtless Wizard scolded herself for not noticing the group of men that had surrounding her while she was busy daydreaming. There were at least thirty wizard and all of them were wearing the symbol of the Dragon Fangs on some part of their body. Despite being vastly outnumbered, Ur had a feeling that they were simply garden-variety wizards and wouldn't be too much of a challenge for someone of her level.

"So you boys wanna play, huh?" Ur scoffed mockingly. "Fine by me. You all saved me the trouble of looking for ya."

"You're surrounded, brat!" One of the wizards proclaimed confidently. "When we're done beating you up, we're gonna have a little fun before we hand you over to the boss."

"It's always the same." Ur sighed irritably. "No matter where I go, I always run into perverts. Well, it's about time I taught you boys how to treat a lady proper. **Ice-Make: Floor!**"

Slamming her palms into the ground, the shirtless wizards created a thick layer of ice that covered every surface within a twenty foot radius. A majority of the Dragon Fang Wizards slipped on the smooth surface and fell on their heads, promptly knocking them out. The lucky few that remained conscious were cautiously pushing themselves back to their feet, mostly slipping and sliding in every direction. Ur, having already created frozen skates on the bottom of her shoes, glided across the newly created ice rink and took the opportunity to topple anyone that was attempt to get back up. You heard the expression 'kicking them when they're down' – that would fit adequately in this situation.

Some of the smarter few wizards – Ur was surprised there were any – managed to claw themselves away from the frozen floor. Once they regained their footing, the Dragon Fang Wizards were attempting to attack from a distance using long-range magic. That would have worked under most conditions, but Ur had already planned ahead by clapped her fist into her open palm, calling up her frozen circle again. Without even uttering a word, the shirtless wizard swiped her hands outwards and summoned a snowflake-like shield between here and the streams of flying magic. Once the attacks had been diverted, Ur moved into her signature position, calling forth her Magic Circle for a third time.

"**Ice-Make: Club!**" Ur exclaimed.

The Ice-Make Wizard punched her fist forward, which transformed into solid ice before extending beyond normal limits. The few thugs that were standing were instantly knocked to the ground before they even had the chance to blink. Ur made a mental note to Gajeel for showing her the Iron Dragon's Club, which she based this technique from. The Ice-Make Wizard was suddenly snapped back to reality when her Ice-Make: Club was violently stopped – a powerful thud echoed in the background.

Ur looked ahead in confusion, finding a pink-haired man holding her frozen weapon in place with only one hand. She tried pulling her arm back, but the rosy-haired man refused to relinquish his grip on the club. Based on the amount of strength he had and the given fact that he was the only one conscious, Ur surmised that he was the new Guild Master of the Dragon Fangs. His pink-colored hair, his scale-patterned scarf, and the lengthy canines all seem very familiar to Ur, but she couldn't remember where.

"So your Gray's little brat." The Guild Master said menacingly; his grip was like a steel clamp. "Figures a underwear wearing bastard like Gray would raise a stripping whore."

"Hey, who do you think you are talking about my dad like that?" Ur sneered.

"You really don't remember." The Guild Master snickered darkly; the ice club was starting to crack in his hand. "I used to be Fairy Tail's greatest wizard for a while, but I never really like you exhibitionist dad. Maybe you remember me as…Fairy Tail's Salamander."

"You expect me to believe that you're Natsu Dragneel?" Ur said in a skeptical tone. "I know he and my dad never got along, but Natsu wasn't the type of person to turn his back on the Fairy Tail Guild. It was his family – his home. The real Natsu Dragneel would never betray his nakama."

"Nakama." The man claiming to be Natsu repeated in a mocking tone. "You're still hung up in that whole nakama crap. Looks like it's time of for me to teach you're the real world, brat. Starting with lesson one: the only one you can trust is yourself!"

Though she seriously believed that this 'Natsu' was just another imposter, she started having second doubts when his right hand was covering in a layer of flames. The ability to produce fire wasn't uncommon, but the ability to draw flames from the body itself was only known to one type of wizards: Fire Dragon Slayers. With his hand coated in fire, Natsu closed his hand around the frozen club, shattering the end to crystal shards on the ground. Fortunately, there was no long term damage as Ur was able to recall the ice club back and reform her hand to its natural form, leaving it only slightly burned.

The Dragon Fang Guild Master wasn't satisfied just yet – the manic look in his eyes was pinned on the teenage wizard. Fidgeting slightly, Ur slammed her fist into her open palm and attempted to summon her Magic Circle to counter the imposter's impressive magic. But before she even had the opportunity to choose her next move, Natsu had closed the distance between them and reeled his flame-coated fist back. In that one instant, Ur unconsciously released her magic, preventing any chance of defending.

She instinctively raised her arms in defense, not a second too soon before feeling the searing fire bristle against her skin. The impact of the fire-coated fist threw Ur off her feet and sent the Ice-Make Wizard flying into the window of a nearby shop, smashing the glass on impact. Ur groaned weakly, suffering the consequence of the bruises forming on her forearms and the shard of glass prickling her skin. She didn't think the imposter would be as strong as he was – she almost believed he was Natsu Dragneel.

Speaking of whom, the Fire-user stepped over the threshold of the store with a bundle of fire emitting from his hand. Ur glared at the faker as pushed herself up, careful to avoid the glass littering the floor.

"So you're still alive?" Natsu said, sounding almost disappointed. "That kinda sucks."

"I'll admit, your magic is…similar to his." Ur stated with narrowed eyes. "But I refuse to believe you're the real Natsu."

"Kids never learn, do they?" Natsu sniggered menacingly; the flames in his hands grew. "They always wanna do things the hard way. All right then, it's time for lesson two of Salamander's School of Hard Knocks: quit while you're ahead."

Ur moved her hands to form the sign of her Ice-Make magic, but by the time show would finish, the Natsu imposter would already have beaten her within an inch of her life. As it was, the man known as Salamander was already above the shirtless wizard with his signature flame-coated fist clenched behind his head. Ur wished for a miracle at this point, but never really expecting it to come true. So you could imagine the look on her face when the false Natsu was suddenly knocked out of the air by a blur of purple. The pink-haired Guild Master cried out in shock as he was kicked through the already broken window and back into the open streets.

Ur blinked dumbfounded when something large landing a few feet away from her. The beast was felines roughly a few inches shorter than herself with royal-purple fur, a slender figure, and piercing-gold eyes. Her attire consisted of a pair of form-fitting, white pants with a matching shirt, a lavender coat over top, and a red opal pendant around her neck. Looking over the human-like cat, it didn't take long for her to put the pieces together in her head and match them up with someone she easily recognized.

"Blaise?" Ur said confused.

"Hello, Ur." Blaise replied in a suave manner. "Didn't think we'd see you again so soon."

"We?" Ur repeated.

"Hey, Ur!" Izumi exclaimed as she popped up behind the wizard; Ur screamed slightly in surprise. "You looked like you had your hands full, so we thought we'd try to help. Hope we're not bothering you or anything."

"No, you came at the perfect time." Ur smiled gratefully. "I thought the Dragon Fangs were just a bunch of stupid thugs looking to make a quick buck, but I didn't expect their Guild Master to know Fire Dragon Slayer Magic." He looked through the broken window to see the fake Natsu pulling himself back up. "If we'd known there was someone like him running the Dragon Fangs, Fairy Tail would have sent someone like Asuka or my dad to deal with him."

"Is he that strong?" Blaise asked worried.

"Not just strong, but fast, too." Ur proclaimed, keeping a steady eye on the target. "He won't even give me a chance to use my Ice-Make Magic."

"No problem." Izumi said confidently. "Blaise's Battle Mode makes her ten times faster than normal – she's the fastest Exceed in Fiore!"

"I'm afraid that is inaccurate, Izumi." Blaise stated, much to the confusion of the girls. "I am…the fastest Exceed in the world!"

"Yay!" Izumi cheered.

"_Is anyone even paying attention to the fire-breathing psychopath?_" Ur thought dryly before stiffening. "_Wait…fire-breathing?_"

The Ice-Make Wizard did a double take – a sense of terror building itself in her heart. While the girls had been chatting amongst themselves, the false Salamander had filled his cheeks to the brim with raging flames. The Dragon Fang Guild Master formed a funnel with his hands and breathed through it, creating a concentrated stream of flames.

"**Fire Dragon Roar!**" Natsu exclaimed

The river of fire impacted the store with enough ferocity to literally blow the roof off the place. Various sorts of glass, shingles, and other assorted good were raining down on the empty street – the explosion shook many of the town residents awake. All the while, the leader of the Dragon Fang Guild watched the beautiful carnage that was laid out before him.

"That oughta teach Gray and those Fairy Tail flies." Natsu said proudly. "Nobody messes with the Great Salamander, Natsu Dragneel."

"What…?"

Natsu hissed inwardly before he swung around, find Izumi and Ur kneeling a good distance away from him – Blaise was panting on the ground, having been forced to revert to her normal form. Apparently, Blaise had made a grab for both girls and rushed them to safety before the store exploded, using up the remaining energy she had in her battle form. Her god-blessed speed combined with her Battle Mode uses a tremendous about of magical energy. Lucky, the most either of the girls suffered was minor cuts.

Ur, though still worried that she couldn't outmatch the imposter, pressed her fist into her open palm again to summon her frosty Magic Circle. The shirtless wizard started making preparation for her Ice-Make: Roar when Izumi suddenly staggered into her line of fire. Ur wanted to tell the girl to move, but she noticed something different about the normal excitable foreigner. Her eyes were cold and narrow towards the pink-haired Dragon Slayer – anger seemed to roll off of her in waves.

"What…did you…say?" Izumi questioned; her voice restricted. "What…did you say…your name was?"

"Natsu Dragneel." Natsu answered irritably. "What's it to you?"

"You son of a bitch…" Izumi hissed lowly. "Attack my friend is one thing, trying to kill me is another, but no one – I mean, no one – ruins my dad's good name!"

"You're dad?" Natsu repeated, visibly stunned. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am Izumi A. Dragneel!" Izumi roared furiously. "I am the daughter of Fairy Tail's Salamander! And I am going to kick your ass!"

"No way!" Ur exclaimed shockingly; Natsu's expression matched her own. "Her dad was Natsu Dragneel!"

"It's true." Blaise said exhaustedly, leaning against Ur's leg. "Izumi is the daughter of Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia. Izumi has always taken pride in being the child of Fairy Tail's greatest wizards and has zero tolerance for anyone who would dare speaking ill against them. For her, it is a matter of family honor."

"What the hell?" Natsu muttered to himself. "Those guys never said anything about him having a kid."

"This is perfect." Ur said with newfound determination. "With her Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, Izumi can just eat up that imposter's magic."

"No." Blaise said bluntly; Ur blinked. "Since neither Natsu nor any other fire dragons were around to teach Izumi the ways of Fire Dragon Slayer Magic, she can't devour or control fire."

"Are you serious?" Ur exclaimed frantically.

"Hey, thanks for the tip, kitty." 'Natsu' cackled victoriously. Holding out his right hand, the pink-haired imposter summoned an impressively-sized fireball over his head. "Hey, brat, give a little message to your real papa. Tell him to burn in hell!"

With a loud grunt, the leader of the Dragon Fangs hurled the massive projectile down the road directly for the tan-skinned foreigner. Ur tried calling her Ice-Make Magic to stop the flaming sphere, but Blaise quickly slapped her hands away. The purple Exceed shook her head at the shirtless wizard, silently telling her to leave it to Izumi. Speaking of whom, the daughter of the Salamander stared down the fireball, giving away no signs of fear or flinching. Then once the flaming sphere was in reach, Izumi pushed her hands forward and stopped the fireball in midflight – she didn't even sweat from the heat.

Ur and Natsu's jaws dropped to the ground with their eyes practically bulging out of their skulls. It wasn't enough that the girl would a flaming projectile head on, but to be able to catch it with her bare hands without cringing seemed almost impossible. But the performance didn't end them. Though it was very brief, a black circle with a dragon's face flashed on the surface of the fireball – Ur recognized it as a Magic Circle. A moment later, the once orange-red fireball was transformed to sphere of pitch-black flames.

Before anyone had a chance to process what happened, Izumi opened her mouth as wide as she could and breathed in deeply, sucking the dark blaze down her throat. By the time Izumi had finished with every lick of black fire, Ur was certain that her brain had short-circuited. Burping in an not-so lady-like manner, Izumi wiped her mouth with her arm, flashing a dangerous grin to the imposter.

"Thanks, man." Izumi smirked. "I was getting hungry."

"What the hell?" Natsu screamed shrilly.

"I thought you said she couldn't eat fire." Ur said, sounding utterly baffled to Blaise.

"It's true: Izumi can't eat _normal _fire." Blaise explained smugly. "Izumi is only capable of devouring black fire. But since black fire is nonexistent, Izumi uses her own magic to change the composition of any flame she comes in contact with and transform them into black flames." Ur stared at her new friend, appearing to have gained a newfound respect for the foreigner. "Izumi uses a type of magic I never thought existed…"

"All right, you fake bastard." Izumi said dangerously; a layer of black flames ignited around her hands. "Now that I've had a good meal, I'm all fired up!"

"Izumi's magic is unique only to her." Blaise concluded. "It's called Black Dragon Slayer Magic."

"Black Dragon Slayer Magic?" Ur repeated in awe.

"Here I go!" Izumi screamed. Jumping high into the air, the foreign teenager strength out her hand with the black flames forming into the shape of a dragon's claw. "**Black Dragon Claw!**"

Panicking slightly on his part, the false Salamander ignited his fist and swung around to meet with her attack. The contact between the two flames instantly increased the temperature of the surrounding area, wilting plants and melting the icy floor that Ur created. But despite being seemingly even in strength, Izumi's magic started spreading down the imposter's arms and altered his flames to a darker composition. This provided the extra strength Izumi needed to push ahead and knock away the faker's hand. With her opponent wide open for attack, the tan-skinned girl swiped her claw across the imposter's face and sent him flying in the distance.

The force of the Black Dragon Slayer threw her adversary crashing through not one, not two, but four buildings in a row. There was no telling how far the false Salamander was sent, but if he was smart enough, he wouldn't dare show his face around Izumi again. The daughter of Fairy Tail's Dragon Slayer smiled proudly at herself, dissolving the lingering flames on her hand.

"And that's a wrap." Izumi smiled, clapping her hands for a job well done.

"That was amazing…" Ur complimented impressively. "But you overdid worse than me!"

Looking back on everything, Izumi did realize that she may have gone a little overboard in the heat of the moment. Nearby stores now displayed melting foods and materials, the local plant-life met and untimely end, and a good number of buildings were completely demolished. Needless to say, she did her father proud.

"Oops." Izumi said nonchalantly.

"We are in so much trouble for this." Blaise commented.

"Man, that was seriously impressive." Ur stated honestly. "And I don't mean the magic, either. No one has been able to destroy that much property since out parents worked together on the same team. You know, I think you guys would be just perfect."

"Perfect for what?" Blaise asked curiously.

"To join Fairy Tail, silly." Ur giggled. "You wanted to join, right?"

A moment of stunned silence between them as Izumi and Blaise slowly turned to face one another. Though they didn't say anything at first, the Ice-Make Wizard could already see the gears turning in their heads. They haven't even in Fiore for a day and they were already one step closer to completing their dream. No longer able to keep it in, Izumi jumped high with a thunderous squeal and her fist pumped in the air.

"All right!" Izumi cheered. "We're going to join Fairy Tail."

"I guess dreams really do come true." Blaise smiled happily. "But what about…"

"IZUMI! BLAISE!"

The cheery atmosphere took a sudden nosedive as all three females stiffed at the furious tone – it was a sound that would make even the great dragons tremble in fear. Very hesitantly, the triad of magical heroes turned their attention down the street as a trail of smoke was creeping closer towards their location. Even from this distance, they could tell that a very, very, very pissed off Marina was charging down the road at an ungodly rate.

"DID YOU TWO DESTROY ANOTHER TOWN?" Marina yelled outrageously. "JUST WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!"

"Crap, it's Marina!" Izumi screaming cowardly.

"Every cat for themselves!" Blaise shouted, running as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Though she wasn't directly involved with the whole thing, Ur had a sneaking suspicion that Izumi's guardian would somehow pin the blame on her. She didn't bother waiting around to find out. That night, two teenaged girls and their cat were chased out of Olender Town by a blue-haired and arrived in Magnolia the next day.

* * *

One hour after the battle had passed, the false Salamander regained consciousness and found himself in an abandoned warehouse. Why Olender Town even had a warehouse was another question. The man who claimed to be Natsu Dragneel was buried under a mixture of broken creates and what looked to be…plush toys? Yeah, this was a strange town. The fake Natsu didn't have enough magical energy to burn away the debris – that Izumi girl seemed to have sucked up his fire magic – and crawled his way out. The fake Natsu grumbled to himself, still not comprehending how he was able to lose to a teenaged girl, even if it was Natsu Dragneel's daughter.

"That little brat thinks she's beaten me." Natsu growled, clenching his fists. "Well, we'll see about that. I just need to build the Guild back up again, find some stronger wizards, and get a replacement Lacrima for the one that brat broke. After that, it'll rip her in two."

"You sound confident for a guy that got beat by a fifteen year-old girl." The false Salamander the voice to the rafters above, finding the young girl sitting in the shadows. "I heard that men with wounded prides tend to be self-conscious."

"Tori Kago." Natsu glared. "What do you want – I'm busy."

"Don't sound so ungrateful after everything we've done for you." Tori giggled playfully. "We gave you skin grafts, hair transplants, vocal cord replacements, eye contacts, and even a nice little Lacrima to give you the powers of the Fire Dragon Slayer. Everything you could possibly need to make people think that you were the real Natsu Dragneel." She swung her legs back and forth in an amused manner. "But even after all that, you're still the same pathetic man the Master found begging for loose pocket change. To think that you were once revered as Eisenwald's Erigor the Reaper."

"Shut it, Kago!" The imposter, now revealed to be Erigor.

"Well, you did a good job, nonetheless." Tori commented gleefully. "Now we know the extent of the Dragon Lacrima's power and can work on picking out the few flaws it has. And plus, that new Black Dragon Slayer girl looks like she could be someone valuable. All in all, it wasn't a bad night."

"Then you can go." Erigor huffed.

"None yet." Tori replied in a sing-song tone. "You see, the master also sent me here to clean up any…messes."

"Messes?" Erigor repeated questionably.

"Sorry, Erigor, but your part's done." Tori smiled playfully. "The Crusade has no use for a failure experiment."

At the instant, an expression of absolute fear washed over the false Salamander's expression – Tori giggled at this. Taking in a short breath, the hidden girl started to whistle a soothing melody that most people would find lovely. But as she continue to play her enchanting song, the windows of the warehouse started to crack, the metal support beams vibrated roughly, and the local animals started howling and screeching for unknown reasons. But for the man once known as Erigor the Reaper, the beautiful song was the most terrible thing he had ever heard.

The false Salamander threw up his hands to his skull, wish to crack it open to relieve the pressure. It wasn't a moment later that his eardrums were shattered and blood began spilling from her ears, nose, and even the corner of his eyes. The fallen elite of Eisenwald only took one last look at the hidden girl before his world fell black. Erigor the Reaper dropped to his knees and fell forward, following his namesake into the next world. Hidden in the rafters above the corpse, Tori Kago laughed silently to herself before disappearing into the night sky.

* * *

**Please, Read and review**

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name**: Ur L. Fullbuster  
**Age**: 16  
**Magic**: Ice-Make (Slayer)  
**Likes**: Ice Cream, Izumi  
**Dislikes**: hereditary striping habit  
**Relatives**: Gray Fullbuster (Father), Juvia Fullbuster (Mother), Kouji Fullbuster (Younger brother, Deceased)  
**Description**: A thoughtful and vibrant woman that perfected her own unique branch of Ice-Make Magic she has appropriately named Slayer Ice-Make. She was heavily influenced by her father at a young age, leading her to follow his unnatural stripping habit. Unlike their parents, Ur and Izumi are genuinely best friends.


	3. 3 Guild of Insanity, Part 1

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

**Note: Because of the introduction of new and old characters, this once-believed to be one chapter has been split into two. Please be patient for the rest.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Guild of Insanity, Part ****1**

A room covered in darkness existed in an unforeseen location – the only source of brilliance came from the solo spotlight in the center of the unknown chamber. There was an eerie sort of silence that would drive many people to madness, soon to be broken by a quick succession of footsteps echoing through the shadows. The spotlight was soon occupied by a young girl in her early teens with sapphire-blue eyes and sky-blue hair that framed her face and was held in two long pigtails that fell to her hips. Her attire consisted of a short, snow-white dress with black outlines running down the sides, elbow-length white gloves with matching knee-length boots, a pair of black thigh-length stockings underneath, and a pure-white capes that was strangely parted down the middle. Tattooed on her right thigh, barely visible above her stocking, was a cross-like symbol painted in cobalt-blue.

Tori Kago was feeling in a mischievous mood recently. Killing the once-famous Erigor the Reaper had proven to be more amusing and less messy than she had expected. That Master would be very pleased by her performance. At that thought, five screens blinked into creation above her head, each broadcasting a shadowed character in the middle of a sea of white.

"Report, Angel." The shadowed man in the middle screen commanded sternly.

"Master." Tori bowed respectfully. "The test with Erigor was a complete failure. The Dragon Lacrima was too unstable to perform a successful test run. The Lacrima was broken too easily when conflicting against magical energies equal or greater than it."

"And Erigor?" The Master questioned.

"All taken care of." Tori giggled mischievously. "I cremated the body in the middle of the woods, so no one would be able to retrace his steps back to us."

"Excellent work, Angel." The Master said; Tori smiled proudly. "Our Crusade cannot afford to make any mistakes after the unfortunate conflict with Lamia Scale's Iron Rock Jura."

"Yeah, I really miss the old Angel." The man on the far right said jokingly. "She really knew how to please a guy, unlike tiny-tits here."

"Shut up, Spirit!" Tori exclaimed, looking particularly flustered.

"Enough!" The Master demanded with strong authority; the two operatives instantly fell silent. "This is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves, especially over trivial matters such as these. We must not forget the true purpose of our Crusade – our holy mission to the world." He turned his head to the two characters on his left. "Knight, Prophet, I will expect you to continue your research on the Dragon Lacrima."

"We will do what we can, Master." The man known as Prophet bowed. "Given that Erigor was the first decent prototype we've come across, we are that much closer to replicating the Dragon Lacrima used by Iwan Dreyar of Raven Tail. Given enough time, its magic may prove to be even more powerful that yours, Ra…"

"What happened at Olender Town?" Knight interjected rudely. "I've been hearing reports from the Magic Council that Erigor and his so-called 'Guild' was beaten by a Fairy Tail Wizard, an Exceed, and a foreigner. I am to assume that one of them is the cause of the Lacrima's early destruction?"

"Yeah, it was really interesting." Tori smirked deviously. "An immanent girl from Seven has a lot of magical power, even though that country depends more on technology than magic. They call her the Black Dragon Slayer, Izumi A. Dragneel."

* * *

In comparison to Olender Town, Magnolia was the largest city in all of Fiore in Izumi's opinion – though it was substantially smaller than her hometown in Seven. Buildings were stacked against one another in a clustered formation that one could gain a sense of claustrophobia in such an environment. Wide canals outlined the town, creating the need for multiple bridges to cross town and boats were used as the main form of transportation. In the center of town was the Kardia Cathedral and at the southernmost part of town was a foreclosed set of ruins that Ur claimed was once the original Fairy Tail Guild building. At that is what brought the immigrant Dragon Slayer to this point.

Izumi, with Blaise saddled on her shoulder, followed Ur to the west side of Magnolia and stood outside their new home: the Fairy Tail Guild. Though it wasn't anything like the foreigners from Seven were expecting. The Guild was a humble two-story tavern squeezed between an old-fashioned book store and a shop that sold novelty items like key chains and snow globes. The symbol of the Fairy Tail Guild – Izumi finally figured out it was a picture of a fairy – was hanging by a metal post above the door, swaying in the wind. The place didn't look too bad, but the woman in a bikini top cuddling a keg of liquor out front was a cause for some concern.

"This is the Fairy Tail Guild?" Blaise questioned critically. "I expected it to be…bigger."

"Well, the guild used to be huge back in the old days." Ur smiled gently. "But after the Phantom Lord War, the Seven Year Slump, and the whole thing with Twilight Ogre, it's a miracle that the guild is even still standing. It's a slow pace, but we're working our way back to the top the best way we can."

"I can't believe I'm finally here." Izumi said, shivering in anticipation. "The Fairy Tail Guild. I can't believe I'm finally here."

"Let's go inside and introduce you to everyone." Ur grinned, grasping the door handle. "Oh, watch out for Cana. It's 2 O'clock, so she'll be out for a while."

The Black Dragon Slayer nodded, making a wide berth around the drunken woman on the ground. Ur paused for a moment for dramatic tension before pushing the door inwards at a painfully-slow rate. The girls took their first tentative steps inside the modest tavern and Izumi laid her eyes on the site of her dreams. The first floor of the Fairy Tail Guild was fairly large enough to hold at least a hundred people inside and the atmosphere was overall friendly. There were at least twenty to thirty wooden tables, most of which were occupied by the Fairy Tail Wizards, a quaint little bar was place on the right-hand side of the tavern, and the stairs to the second floor was on the opposite side. The wood panel walls were covered by photos of previous guild members and trophies that had been collected over the years – there was a giant, bejeweled horn in the corner for some reason.

And then there was the guild members themselves. Some of the Fairy Tail Wizards had looked in their direction once they walked in, but others were either too busy or too drunk to notice. Izumi wasn't just amazed by the number of Wizards that were in the Guild, but also by the range of age for most of the members. Some were younger than her and others looked old enough to be her grandfather – living in this guild was going to be a unique experience. Izumi was ready to introduce herself when her best friend was suddenly tackled by an older woman with ocean-blue hair that curled outwards.

"Ur!" The woman exclaimed loudly, literally crying waterfalls. "Juvia was so worried about you! Juvia heard that half the town was destroyed and Juvia was worried that her baby may have gotten hurt! But now Juvia is happy that her baby is safe!"

"Mom, you're embarrassing me." Ur whined.

"Even more embarrassing than losing your pants in the last two minutes?" Blaise commented.

"Oh crap!" Ur screamed, realizing she was only in her underwear.

"Huh?" Juvia blinked curiously, staring at the newcomers with interest. "Juvia's never seen you before. Are you friends of Ur?"

"Actually, we are." Izumi chuckled nervously. "When met in Olender Town after we beat up some guy trying to impersonate a member of Fairy Tail. We're actually the reason the town was destroyed. My bad."

"We heard you caused some serious damage." A male voice entered the conversation. "If you can cause that much destruction in one night, that definitely makes you Fairy Tail material."

The Black Dragon Slayer swiftly turned on her heels, nearly throwing the Exceed off her shoulder. Izumi found herself facing a pair of Fairy Tail Wizards, one male and one female. The male was slightly taller than Izumi with fiery-red hair that spiked in every direction and crimson-red eyes. He wore a zipped-up, black jacket with three yellow lines running down the sleeves and the symbol of Fairy Tail in yellow stamped over the left side of his chest. He also wore a pair of casual jeans, a pair of black and white sneakers, and what appears to be a black chocker around his neck. Izumi couldn't see where his Guild Mark was, so she surmised that it was either beneath his clothes or the symbol was on his jacket.

His partner was slightly shorter than Izumi with short, ocean-blue hair that framed her face emerald-green eyes. Her clothing consisted of red and green plaid skirt, a white blouse with a blue sweater vest overtop, a red and green striped tie, plain-white leggings, and a pair of pitch-black dress shoes. She looked like she had just come from some fancy bordering school in Izumi's opinion. The Fairy Tail symbol was tattooed on her right hand in green ink, which matched her eyes perfectly.

At her partner's remark, the girl swiftly smacked her hand across the back of the male's head, earning a burning glare from him.

"Please ignore my friend." The girl smiled kindly. "Fairy Tail's not as bad as everyone thinks it is."

"**These two are Grace Rosen and Razor Garnier – a partnering pair of Wizards with magic that compliments each other's abilities. They make up the Fairy Tail Guild's strongest tag-team: Soul Stealers."**

"So you blew up Olender Town, huh?" Grace asked nicely; Izumi nodded her head embarrassingly. "That must have been some impressive magic." Her eyes traveled up and down the Dragon Slayer's form. "Based on your…appearance, I can tell that you're not from Fiore. You look like someone from Seven."

"Oh, is that what it is." Razor said, scratching his head. "For a second, I thought she got sunburned or something."

"Razor!" Grace exclaimed angrily, delivering a strong right hook over his head. With her partner KO'd on the floor, the girl immediately bowed in an apologetic manner. "I am SO sorry about him. He has a tendency to speak before he thinks."

"Hey, it's not the first time someone commented on my skin tone." Izumi chuckled playfully. "I'm not offended at all."

"So what's Seven like?" Grace questioned curiously, dragging the Dragon Slayer and Exceed to the nearest table. Razor was left forgotten on the floor and Ur was still trapped in her mother's death grip. "I heard that people in Seven don't like to use magic, so it's kinda surprising to have a Wizard from there."

"Seven has devoted their lives more towards technology than magic." Blaise proclaimed, hopping onto the table. "The country has a reputation of being the biggest source of technological advancements in the world. The cities are pretty nice, but the country itself is just one giant desert – all the major cities use sun blocking lenses to keep the temperature at a minimum.

"That's explains why my skin is a shade darker than most people." Izumi confirmed.

"I like it." A lusty, feminine tone intruded. "I think it makes you look exotic."

Before the tan foreigner knew what happened, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind and something wet wiggling around her inner ear – Izumi visibly trembled at the motion. Blaise's jaw instantaneously made acquaintance with the table surface and Grace sighed annoyingly with her head resting against her head. It took a brief moment to recover from the initial shock before Izumi quickly jumped away, diving for the floor boards. The Black Dragon Slayer flipped around on her back, shoot uncertain glances at the woman who had the nerve to stick her tongue in Izumi's ear.

The woman looked roughly around the same age as Izumi and Ur with glimmering-white hair that touched her waist and crystal-blue eyes. She wore a white shirt that graciously outlined her ample breasts – Izumi was inwardly jealous – with a black, biker's jacket over top with the Fairy Tail mark stitched in white on the back, a pair of black jeans with a brown-leather belt, pitch-black leather gloves, and a pair of black sneakers. The Guild Mark of Fairy Tail was present on the right side of her neck, stamped in white.

In overall appearance, she looked like some sort of biker chic Izumi had seen on television once. The white-haired woman kneeled closer to Izumi, licking her lips in a suggestive manner – the Black Dragon Slayer resisted the urge to punch her.

"Aren't you cute?" The woman said sensually. "You look like a girl who knows how to have a good time. Why don't we go up to the second floor and get…acquainted with each other."

"Forget it, you freak!" Izumi screamed, drawing a lot of unwanted attention. "I don't swing that way!"

"C'mon, we could have a great time together." The woman purred.

"Kit, leave her alone!" Both women looked back at the sound, spotting another woman with short, snow-white hair standing over them. Lisanna crossed her arms and tapped her foot expectantly while scolding the black leather deviant. "It's not nice to scare new people - I thought I taught you better than that."

"C'mon, mom, I was only playing around." The woman named Kit answered playfully.

Lisanna seemed less than amused, which earned a sigh from her mischievous daughter. The black-leather wearing woman slowly moved off of her pray, but not before copping a quick feel of Izumi's breasts – the Black Dragon Slayer squeaked embarrassingly. Once returning to her feet, Kit snapped her fingers and her body began rearranging itself through the use of an elaborate Magic Circle. When the seal vanished, the voluptuous woman was replaced by a thin, teenaged man with choppy, white hair that touched down to his shoulders – everything else remained the same. Izumi was sure that her Exceed's jaw had fallen through the table and that her own jaw was down there to meet it.

"Surprised?" The masculine Kit snickered tauntingly. "I knew you would be."

"**This man…woman…whatever is Kit – Fairy Tail's resident deceiver and infiltrator. Kit has magic that allows him/her to change his/her body composition, so no one is truly sure what his/her real gender is."**

"Kit." Lisanna scolded, pulling her son/daughter by the ear. "What have I told you about playing those kinds of tricks on people? They are indecent, inappropriate, and immoral."

"Geez, I was just having a little fun." Kit whined. "Give me a break, mom."

"Let's go somewhere else for now." Grace laughed nervously.

Izumi didn't waste any time to comply – the quicker she got away from the gender confused Wizard, the better. They pushed through a number of odd Wizards, including a guy that liked to hang out his tongue and play with dolls, until they reached the little bar on the other end of the guild. They were lucky enough to find a couple of empty stools at the end. As they sat down, Izumi noticed a man with messy, dark hair with the blue Fairy Tail symbol on his chest sitting comfortably in only his boxers. That must have been Gray Fullbuster, Ur's father – the lack of proper attire was a dead giveaway.

"Oh, you must be new." Izumi snapped her head back up after being greeted by the barkeeper. "I'm Luna. Welcome to the Fairy Tail Guild."

Luna was a woman barely older than Izumi with wavy, light-brown that was tied into a high ponytail with fringes framing her face and light-brown eyes. She wore a low-cut, white shirt with a sky-blue coat on top, a navy-blue jean-skirt, three different colored belts intersecting around her waist, and a pair of pure-white boots. The young bartender smiled absently at the newcomer, not realizing that she had finished cleaning the glass in her hand three minutes ago.

"**This lovely young lady is Luna – one of the more loveable members of the Fairy Tail Guild. She has recently retired from her work as a Wizard due to personal reasons."**

"Hi, I'm Izumi." The Dragon Slayer introduced, waving a hand to her comrade. "And this is Blaise."

"Hello, Izumi and Blaise." Luna giggled teasingly, setting down the cup and rag. "I see you had a close encounter with my cousin, Kit. He likes to play around a lot, but he's really a nice guy once you get to know him."

"Oh, so he is a male." Blaise commented.

"Actually, I don't know that for sure." Luna stated, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "I know he looks like a guy whenever he goes swimming or works out at the gym, but he sleeps as a girl and uses the woman's bathroom a lot. It's kinda hard to tell since he's dated a lot of men and women, but he might be bisexual. I don't know."

"You seem nonchalant about it." Izumi sweat-dropped.

"Marina was right." Blaise commented in equal fashion. "This is the strangest Guild in Fiore."

"That might be a bit of an understatement." Grace laughed.

At that moment, Ur slumped into the open stool on Izumi's right side, slamming her head on the surface of the bar.

"God, my mom can be so overdramatic sometimes." Ur complained, lifting her head to face the tan foreigner. "If she cried anymore, she'd flood the place. And I'm not exaggerating – there are times when she actually cries a river. By the way, Grace." The blue-haired girl perked up at the mention of her name. "Shouldn't you be checking up on your boyfriend about now?"

"Razor is not my boyfriend!" Grace exclaimed; her face a deep shade of red.

"I never said it was Razor, did I?" Ur replied slyly.

"But – I – he – ugh!" Grace stammered, quickly leaving her seat to prevent any further embarrassment.

"Hey, what's the deal with Grace and that Razor guy?" Izumi asked interestingly, watching her new friend disappear into the crowded room. "Are they like a couple or something?"

"Well, not officially." Luna explained with a cheerful grin. "Grace and Razor arrived at Fairy Tail on the same day a couple years back asking the Master if they can join the guild. When they went to pick their first job, they ended up picking the same one and ever since then, they've been Fairy Tail's best two person team." She sighed dreamily. "They always deny it, but you can see the subtle romantic tension between them just waiting to break free."

"That's so romantic." Izumi sighed.

"Well, I wouldn't say romantic." The girls and Exceed were swiftly snapped from their daydreaming. "More like an awkward beginning to a trustful relationship."

A woman most likely in her late-30's approached the bar with one hand pulling her son along and another resting on her swelling stomach. She had silky, sapphire-blue hair that touched past her waist, chocolate-brown, and lengthy canines – a trait only seen in Dragon Slayers. She wore a simple, emerald-green, scale-patterned dress, a pair of plain-white shoes, and a sterling-silver ring on her right hand. Her Fairy Tail tattoo was painted in sky-blue on her right shoulder.

The boy she was holding hands with couldn't have been more than seven or eight years with messy, dark hair and chocolate boy eyes like his mother. His clothing was simple with only a moss-green shirt bearing the Fairy Tail symbol on the front, a pair of mud-brown shorts, and a simple pair of sandals. He clearly didn't have the mark of the Fairy Tail Guild because he was too young to become a member.

The obviously pregnant woman took the seat Grace left behind with her son standing faithfully at her side. Luna quickly went to work behind the bar, retrieving a pair of clean glasses and a bottle of milk from beneath the table – Izumi was amazed that the place actually served something non-alcoholic.

"I'm so happy to could come today, Wendy." Luna said cheerfully, passing the beverage to the pregnant woman and her son. "I know it must not have been easy because of your condition, but it means so much that you and Sora decided to come."

"Of course I would." Wendy smile, graciously accepting the milk. "I love this guild and Sora loves it, too."

"So, how far along are you now, Wendy?" Ur asked eagerly.

"A few months." Wendy answered brightly. "I still have a long way to go before I can see my new baby." While the girls cooed at the thought, the blue-haired woman finally realized the addition of one tan-skinned teenager and one purple Exceed in the group. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you here to join Fairy Tail?"

"That's right." Izumi grinned confidently. "We're gonna be the best Wizards this guild has ever seen."

"It's so nice to have new people join our guild." Wendy stated happily. "I am Wendy Conbolt and this is my son, Sora."

"Hi." Sora waved.

"The name's Izumi." The Seven immigrant introduced. "And this is my partner, Blaise."

"Blaise, huh? So you finally decided to come crawling back." The Dragon Slayer and Exceed searched around curiously, trying to find the source of the noise. "Down here!"

Izumi blinked in confusion for a moment as she turned around in her seat, looking down directly at the floorboard. Standing directly below was a white Exceed with large, brown eyes that were currently narrowed in a dangerous scowl. The Exceed wore a mustard-yellow shirt with pink fringes, a pink skirt, and a pink bow tied at the end of her tail.

Once making eye contact with the snowy feline, Blaise dropped down and exchanged challenging glares with the new cat. There was the briefest moment of silence in the normally flamboyant guild as everyone turned and stared at the leering Exceeds. You could feel the rising tension between them – the sparks of conflict was practically visible in their eyes.

"Carla." Blaise said slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"I lived in the Fairy Tail Guild for over twenty years." Carla answered in a dignified manner. "I hope you still don't have any disillusions of becoming the next ruler of the Exceeds. We both know that title is reserved for me as it rightly should be."

"Just because you are Queen Shagotte's daughter does not mean you're qualified." Blaise countered, crossing her paws in a serious manner. "The reason ten candidates were chosen was because you are obviously not the one suited for the position."

"And you think you are?" Carla hissed; the throbbing vain present on her forehead. "You're only eight years old – a child."

"At least I don't dress like a child." Blaise retorted, referring to the princess's colorful ensemble. "Seriously, you look like you're ready to start your first day of preschool."

"Resorting to name calling." Carla said smugly. "Just what I would expect from a wingless kitten."

"You prissy little…" Blaise screeched.

Without a word of warning, both Exceeds jumped and started clawing at one another – this was the first time Izumi had seen an actual catfight before. Ur made the mistake of trying to separate them, but was somehow lifted off the grown and thrown on the other side of the bar, smashing Luna's precious collection of memorabilia glasses. Ur was out, Wendy was pregnant, Sora was too little, and Luna was too distraught over her poor cups to stop them. That unfortunately left Izumi as the odd girl out. But before the foreign Dragon Slayer had the opportunity to separate them, a loud gunshot echoed in the building – that stopped the Exceed's well enough.

Members of the Fairy Tail Guild had jumped away at the noise, which had come from a table just a few feet away from Izumi and the others. The person who made the shot was a tall and slender young woman in her late-20s with raven-black hair tied into a long braid and equally dark eyes. She wore a black shirt with a leather-brown vest, a pair of skin-tight jeans, leather-brown boots with silver spurs, a leather holster at her waist, a row of silver bangles on her right wrist, and traditional cowboy hat. She was holding a custom silver pistol to the ceiling – the end was still smoking – and a lit cigarette between her teeth.

Once the noise level had fallen to an acceptable scale, the woman holstered her weapon with a flamboyant twirl. The room was silent as she breathed in a long drag of her cigarette and exhaled a small puff of smoke.

"Can ya keep it down?" The woman requested irritably. "Who does a girl have to shoot to get a decent smoke in peace around here?"

"**This charming young woman is Asuka Connell – known throughout Fiore as Asuka "Bull's-eye" Connell. She holds the title of Fairy Tail's resident chain smoker."**

"Now, now, there's no need to go that far, Asuka." Wendy chuckled nervously, keeping her son safely tucked behind her. "Carla and Blaise are just excited, that's all. Isn't that right, girls?"

"Of course." Carla answered with a forced smile, shaking Blaise's hand harder than necessary. "Just two good friends having a good time in Fairy Tail. Isn't that right, Blaise?"

"You got that right, Carla." Blaise answered in an equally forced tone, making use her claws in the handshake.

"Whatever." Asuka waved uncaringly, taking a deep breath of smoke.

"If you wouldn't mind, Asuka." Wendy visibly frowned. "Could you not smoke inside the guild? I'm worried that secondhand smoke might hurt the baby."

"Fine." Asuka groaned, putting her cigarette out on the table. "But you know I get anxious when I don't have my smokes. Ever since you got hitched with Romeo, you've been a regular killjoy, ya know that."

"I have not?" Wendy pouted childishly.

"Actually, you kinda have." A fat man with sprout-like hair responded.

"No one asked for your opinion, Droy!" Wendy snapped irritably; mood swings were killer.

From that point on, Wendy went around the room snapping at anyone who called her a killjoy or fat – no one said a thing about that last part, but the Wind Dragon Slayer always assumes. With some relative peace resolved, everyone went back to their own things. Ur crawled back on the other side of the bar and retook her seat, wondering how a pair of two-foot cats managed to throw her like a ragdoll. Luna got over her broken glass collection in almost record time and served the girls complimentary drinks – Izumi's was non-alcoholic because she was still a year underage.

Spinning around in her stool, drink in hand, the foreign Black Dragon Slayer examined the modest tavern that served as Fairy Tail's housing. It hasn't even been an hour and Izumi had already met an abusive couple, a gender confused shape shifter, a ditzy barmaid, a pregnant Dragon Slayer, a stuck-up Exceed, and a trigger-happy chain smoker. Needless to say, it was a different type of experience.

"So, what do you think of Fairy Tail so far?" Ur asked amusingly, taking a quick sip of her beer.

"Is it always like this?" Izumi asked curiously.

"Well, today's Sunday." Ur answered thoughtfully. "So it's kind of a slow day."

"_This is a slow day?_" Izumi shrieked mentally. "_I've only been here for over half-an-hour and I already think I'm in way over my head. But…"_She clenched in fist in a determined fashion. "_I can't afford to back out now! I'm going to become a great Wizard just like mom and dad were! I'll show them all!"_

With her resolved secured, Izumi guzzled down the rest of her beverage in a fashion that would make Cana proud – if it was alcoholic that is. The tan-skinned Dragon Slayer exhaled deeply and slammed her mug on the counter, waiting for whatever surprise this guild would throw at her next. She didn't have to wait long. Within a matter of minutes, the front door of the guild was thrown open and slammed against the wall – the guild went eerily silent for a moment. There was a short pause for dramatic effect before a single man walked into the tavern, standing proud and tall before the crowded room of onlookers.

The newcomer had a mess of silver-white hair and mysterious amethyst-purple eyes. He wore a black jacket with a white collar, a plain-white undershirt, a pair of pure-white pants held by a leather-brown belt, a pair of black sneakers, and a silver necklace with three crystal shards. He carried an unbelievably large broadsword with a distinct pattern at the hilt and a black musical note on the surface strapped to his back. The symbol that distinguished him as a member of Fairy Tail was tattooed on his right forearm in red ink.

Izumi watched the unknown swordsman in wonderment, imagining him returning from a deadly mission carrying the scars of victory and standing in a righteous way amongst his nakama. That imagine was quickly shattered when the silver-haired man dropped face-first into the floorboard – a loud grumbling sound could be heard coming from his stomach.

"Hungry…" Haru Glory moaned pathetically.

"Great, another weirdo." Blaise sweat-dropped.

* * *

**Please, read and review.**

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Izumi A. Dragneel (The A. remains unknown to her)  
**Age: **15  
**Magic: **Black Dragon Slayer  
**Likes: **Fairy Tail, shopping, daytime television  
**Dislikes: **Spicy food, Mana Alberona  
**Relatives: **Natsu Dragneel (Father, Deceased), Lucy Heartfilia (Mother, Deceased), Marina (Legal Guardian)  
**Description: **A rambunctious and hard-headed girl that seeks to make her mark in the famous Fairy Tail Guild. Growing up on stories of her parent's adventures, Izumi seeks to become a great Wizard that will rival their reputations. She is often plagued by dreams of a Black Gate Key – the existence of which remains unknown.


	4. 4 Guild of Insanity, Part 2

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

* * *

**Chapter Four: Guild of Insanity, Part 2**

Fairy Tail turned out to be everything Izumi had expected and a quite a few things she didn't expect. From the humble tavern that served as the guild's base to the variety of personalities that had joined the wizard organization before her. Though she could have done without the cross-gendered weirdo that pretty much attempted sexual assault – she still didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. Now sitting at the bar, a mug of apple juice in hand, Izumi watched with interest as the door to the guild hall was flung open, slamming against the wall with an audiblethud.

The man who entered shortly after had a mess of silver-white hair and mysterious amethyst-purple eyes. He wore a black jacket with a white collar, a plain-white undershirt, a pair of pure-white pants held by a leather-brown belt, a pair of black sneakers, and a silver necklace with three crystal shards. He carried an unbelievably large broadsword with a distinct pattern at the hilt and a black musical note on the surface strapped to his back. The symbol that distinguished him as a member of Fairy Tail was tattooed on his right forearm in red ink.

Izumi would have been impressed with his overall appearance if it wasn't for the fact that he was holding his stomach, which was emitting a growl that could be heard across the room. He didn't have much effort to remain standing and promptly fell face-first into the floorboard, moaning pathetically for all to hear.

"Hungry…" The silver-haired teen whined.

"Great, another weirdo…" Blaise sweat-dropped from her place on the counter.

"Blaise, don't be rude." Izumi chided, setting her empty glass aside. "I'm sure he's a really great guy."

"No, he's a weirdo." Ur laughed. Izumi nearly face-faulted at the blunt comment; how was it possible to distinguish the weirdoes in a group like Fairy Tail? "Just like the rest of Team Shard Caster."

"Team Shard Caster? Izumi repeated curiously.

"Haru, get a hold of yourself. You're causing a scene."

The next person to walk into the guild was a few inches shorter than Haru, but his expression was one of authority. He had a mess of short, chestnut-brown hair that was part on the left side and pupiless, light-grey eyes. He wore a pitch-black, sleeveless shirt with a moss-green cloth draped around his shoulders that was pinned into place by a silver Fairy Tail insignia. He also wore pitch-black pants with multiple turquoise straps intersecting across his legs, a pair of dirt-brown boots, and three silver bangles on each of his wrists. His Fairy Tail mark was located on his left cheek in turquoise paint.

**"This is Glace Echo – the unprecedented leader of Team Shard Caster. He is one of the few members of Fairy Tail to have earned the title of S-Class Wizard."**

"Haru, would you mind getting off the floor before you embarrass yourself even further?" Glace requested.

"But I'm hungry…" Haru moaned

**"This eccentric young man is Haru Glory, a most recent addition to the Fairy Tail Guild. His branch of magic stems from his unique magical sword called the Ten Commandments."**

"You've already said that." Glace sighed, rubbing his throbbing forehead. "But we're back at the guild now, so try to show some dignity."

"That's like trying to fly a fish in winter during a tsunami."

Izumi's attention shifted over to the last two members of Team Shard Caster that had just entered the guild. The tallest of the team was a slightly muscular man with blond hair that spiked backwards with deep-amber eyes and distinct scar running down the left side of his face. He wore a mustard-yellow t-shirt with a black, long-sleeved underneath, a pair of emerald-green pants with a chain in the right pocket, a pair of plain-white sneakers, and a rope necklace with four animal teeth – Izumi guessed they were tiger. His Fairy Tail mark wasn't visible, so it was to be assumed that it was beneath his clothes.

The next one to come up was rather thin in comparison to his teammates, but looked strong nonetheless. He had a mop of mess, jet-black hair with ocean-blue eyes and a thin scar just beneath his left eye. He wore a snow-white t-shirt, a black vest with silver plates overtop, a pair of pitch-black pants supported by an overlapping layer of crimson-red belts, a pair of pitch-black, steel-toed boots, and small pouch strapped to his right hip. His Fairy Tail marking was located on the back of his right hand and printed in white ink.

**"Bringing up the rear are Joules Dreyar and Mesh Gilgaran – the powerhouse duo of Team Shard Caster. Though both exceptionally strong in their own ways, Mesh in particular is not very bright."**

"That doesn't even make any sense, stupid." Joules stated. He promptly slapped his teammate in the back of the head, which made him look around in confusion. "I'm over here, dumbass."

"I know that." Mesh replied, still looking around the guild. "Did you see what hit me?"

The leader of the wizard team rolled his eyes, openly wondering how they managed to survive this long together. Team Shard Caster made their way to the bar; Glace being the one to drag their sword-wielding teammate since the others outright refused. They stepped up to the counter a few seats away from Izumi and Ur, dropping Haru into the nearest seat. The silver-haired teen dropped face-first into the wooden paneling, begging for food like a wounded animal or Blaise when she doesn't get her mid-day trout.

"Hey, boys." Luna greeted cheerfully, once again cleaning the dirty mugs. "I see you four are back from your first S-Class mission as a team – How'd that go, by the way?"

"Terribly." Glace sighed irritably, settling himself into the nearest seat with his head in his hands. "The Master assigned me to handle an S-Class criminal that uses shape-shifting magic to rape and murder female wizards. I had originally planned to go alone, but my 'friends' somehow got wind of my mission and took it upon themselves to tag along."

"We couldn't just let our buddy go on a dangerous mission alone." Mesh argued.

"I've been on many S-Class missions before." Glace retorted, rubbing the throbbing vain on his cranium. "Anyway, it took us little over a month to do some serious investigating before we managed to track down his location in Iris Town. But once we got there, the others kinda got a little outta control."

"How so?" Luna asked; she was still cleaning the same mug.

"Haru and Mesh were giving everyone the third degree and Joules was too busy flirting." Glace answered, leering at the trio that was trying to act innocent. "But I managed to use my magic to expose the shape-shifters true form and then we had to fight him down. Luckily, we managed to capture him with a minimal amount of damage. After he was detained, the mayor of the town offered us free food and room for the night."

"That doesn't sound so bad." Ur commented, shaking her glass to signal Luna for another drink. "With your branch of magic, I imagine it was the easiest S-Class mission you've ever had."

"It was until the next day." Glace sighed disappointedly. "We were getting ready to leave when we found Joules sleeping with the mayor's daughter." Izumi, Ur, and Blaise grimaced at the mention; Luna smiled absently. "The mayor was majorly pissed when he found out and formed a mob to run us out of town without even paying us for all our work. Three million jewels down the drain."

"It was worth it, though." Joules laughed, ignorant to his leader's piercing stare.

"Hungry…" Haru moaned.

"So, you're an S-Class wizard, right?" Izumi asked excitedly as she appeared around Ur, causing the team leader to jump slight from her sudden appearance. "I heard that S-Class wizards are like, the best of the best. Marina told me all about Fairy Tail's S-Class wizards like Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, and Gildarts Clive. You must be super powerful."

"That's right!" Mesh spoke loudly, somehow appearing from behind the bar without notice. "Glace is one of the three New Generation S-Class wizards."

"New Generation?" Blaise questioned interestingly.

"It's an unofficial term in Fairy Tail for members that have been here for the last ten years." Luna explained, still cleaning the mug despite the fact that it was already painfully bright. "Wizards that have been in the guild longer like Wendy, Gajeel, or Aunt Mirajane are called the Old Generation. There are three S-Class wizards in the New Generation including Glace, Jak Scarlet, and my cousin, Azrael Justine."

"Whoa, that is so cool." Izumi said captivated.

"Yeah, yeah, they're all right." Joules waved indifferently. He walked around the group and grabbed the back of Ur's chair, tilting it forward to throw her off. Izumi is momentarily stunned until the spiky blond took the seat and stared at her with a suggestive grin. "But if you're really looking for a good time, I'm the guy you wanna talk to."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening." Blaise commented blandly.

"I believe that is the choice of this lovely lady here." Joules chuckled lightly, taking Izumi's hand and placing a gentlemen kiss on the back. "A beautiful woman only deserves the finer things in life. And right now, I am staring into the eyes of a golden-haired goddess. Tell me your name, my love, so that I may savor it with each breath."

Izumi opened her mouth to answer, but the words somehow got lost in her throat and her face was feeling unnaturally hot even for a Dragon Slayer. The tanned foreigner was beautiful in many respects, but this was the first time anyone of the opposite gender had complimented her – most of the boys in her hometown tend to avoid her. The Black Dragon Slayer tried answering again, but her words only came out as an unintelligible stammer, which must have seemed pretty embarrassing from their point of view. Joules smiled again and Izumi's face was redder than before; she wished more than anything that she would just disappear.

Fortunately, she was saved from further humiliation when Joules' chair suddenly tilted backwards, sending the spiky hair wizard tumbling onto the floor. Not a moment later, Ur climbed up and regained her seat with a menacing scowl.

"Don't bother listening to that perverted idiot." Ur grumbled darkly, promptly ignoring his cries of protest. "He's a player – he just says a lot of flowery crap to get into girl's pants."

"Speaking of pants…" Blaise coughed into her paw awkwardly. "Shouldn't you be wearing some?"

"AW CRAP!" Ur exclaimed, taking notice that she was only in her underwear.

"Hungry…" Haru groaned once more.

"As much as I love seeing Joules get what he deserves…" Glace announced, allowing the faintest smirk on his expression. "It's been a long and…disappointing day. I'm heading straight home just as soon as I report to Master…"

The leader of Team Shard Caster trailed off as he turned in his seat, unintentionally coming face-to-face with Asuka. The dark-haired gunslinger had been keeping her distance from Wendy to satisfy her nicotine addiction until she realized she had walked up to Glace while searching for her cigarette pack. There was some awkward tension between them – Izumi noticed that the majority of the guild had gone silent to watch. Glace looked down at the floor, scratching the back of his head shyly, as Asuka surprisingly stuffed the smokes back into her jeans. Neither of them attempted to look at each other, most likely waiting for the other to say something – Izumi suddenly had the desire to make popcorn.

"So, Asuka…" Glace said softly, bravely making the first move. "I see you made it back all right."

"Yeah, it was a couple of thieves." Asuka responded, finding sudden interest in her boots. "And, what about you? I hear you took another S-Class mission recently. How did that work out?"

"Well, I'm still alive, if that's what you're asking." Glace mumbled lowly.

"Yeah…that's good." Asuka nodded slowly.

"And on that note," Ur interjected quickly, grabbing Izumi's wrist and Blaise's tail. "We'll just be going now."

Quick as a flash, the underwear-clad wizard pulled her friends away from the bar and disappeared into the crowd, which had returned to its normal rowdy self.

"What was that about?" Izumi asked once Ur finally released her hand.

"Sorry about that." Ur apologized; Blaise huffed and turned her back in a dignified manner. "I thought I'd save you from getting caught in the middle of those two. They're not normally violent when they're together, but it can be pretty awkward."

"Why's that?" Blaise asked curiously, chancing a glance over her shoulder. "Is there something going on between them?"

"Well…kinda." Ur said slowly, trying to find the right words to describe it. "You see, Glace and Asuka had been dating since they were teenagers and Glace proposed to her last year, which she accepted. We thought they were going to be great together, but when the day of the wedding arrived, Asuka got cold feet at the last minute and left Glace at the altar."

"Ooh, harsh." Izumi winced.

"I think Asuka still loves Glace…" Ur commented thoughtfully. "But she's probably not ready for a commitment just yet."

"That's a twist." Blaise proclaimed, climbing onto the table to face the girls. "Usually it's the other way around."

"Well, let's put that on hold for a while." Ur said, clapping her hands as if to close the discussion. "C'mon there's still one more person I want you to meet." She weaved her way through the crowded guild, waving her new friends to follow. "Since we're going around meeting New Generation wizards, I think I should introduce you to one more person – Jak and Azrael are still on S-Class missions."

"After meeting the other guild mates," Blaise said, seated on Izumi's shoulder. "I'm almost worried how this one will turn out."

"Trust me; Mana is one of the coolest girls you'll ever meet." Ur grinned, looking left and right for her target. "Her magic is really powerful and she's one of the few normal wizards in Fairy Tail. Now that I think about it, Mana and Izumi probably have a lot in common." She stopped for a moment to scan the room. "Now where did she…oh, there she is!"

The Ice-Make wizard pointed to the farthest corner of the guild, where a young woman sat alone with her legs from up on the table and light novel in her hands. She had short, chestnut-brown hair with a lengthy braid on the right side that touched her elbow and ocean-blue eyes. She wore a sleeveless, cobalt-blue shirt with golden tiger prints and a crimson, Egyptian-like eye on her stomach. She also wore matching cobalt-blue pants with golden tiger stripes, a pair of dirt-brown boots with white-wool cuffs, red-cloth belt, and a row of bandages around her wrists. Her most distinct feature was that she possessed two tattoos instead of one like most wizards. One was the Fairy Tail symbol stamped on her forehead in red ink and the three white dots above her left eye with one white teardrop below it.

"**That last member of the Fairy Tail's New Generation wizards – Mana Alberona. She is uncommonly quiet amongst the guild members, but can become aggressive on command. She is a favorite for the next S-Class Wizard Promotion Trial.**"

"Hey, Mana." Ur called. The quiet wizard brought her eyes up from her book, spotting Ur once again prancing around in nothing but her underwear. Only this time, she was accompanied by a blond girl with skin a shade darker than most people have in Fiore and a purple Exceed without wings. "Mana, this is Izumi and Blaise. They're going to join the guild…if the master lets them in, that is."

The silent wizard turned her focus to the royal-purple Exceed, who bowed formally in respect – those two were going to get along perfectly. Then Izumi and Mana locked eyes on each other. Soon, the rambunctious and often irritant noise of the guild was subsided, leaving only them in the void of emptiness. Neither wizard dared to blink or look away whether out of fear or respect. Ur looked between the two curiously, even waving her hands in their field of vision in hopes of getting them to react. It only took a brief moment afterwards before they finally responded and the first thing they said was not what they expected.

"I hate you." Izumi and Mana said simultaneously.

"That was fast!" Ur exclaimed shockingly.

"Ur, why did you bring a foreign degenerate into our guild?" Mana questioned coolly.

"Who are you callin' 'degenerate', you lopsided weirdo." Izumi grimaced.

"I don't intend to start a fight…" Mana said with a dark scowl as she stood up. "But I'll be happy to finish it."

"Bring it on." Izumi growled, cracking her knuckles threateningly. "I've been itching to punch something for the last five seconds."

"Hey, hey, hey now!" Ur shouted in a panic, throwing out her arms to push them toward opposite sides. "There's no need to fight over…whatever it is the two of you are fighting about. Especially not when the master is right upstairs. Now shake hands and apologize."

Izumi and Mana looked at her as if shaking hands with each other was a fate worse than death. The two women caught each other's gaze once more and looked away in a huff, reluctantly holding out their hands. There was clearly some tension between them as they hesitantly locked their hands and moved slowly into a forced handshake. Ur sighed in relief – another disaster avoided. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Without Mana or the other realizing what had occurred, the Black Dragon Slayer flipped her new rival over her shoulder and tossed the braided warrior to a table several feet away, splitting the wood down the middle and sending glasses flying into the walls. The guild stifled their chatter to watch as Mana pulled herself back to her feet; her braid soaked into alcohol.

"Hahaha! I can't believe you fell for that!" Izumi roared with laughed, holding her sides in pure hilarity. "What a dumba…"

The tan-skinned foreigner was rudely interrupted as Mana charged across the guild in record time and tackled Izumi into the wall, creating a large crack in the wood paneling. The Black Dragon Slayer growled in an animalistic manner, bring her hands together and slamming them against her rival's back. However, Mana managed to ignore the blow and raised her head abruptly, slamming it against Izumi's jawline. Izumi hissed from the momentary pain before delivering a solid right hook to her opponent's skull, slamming her into another table that was once occupied. The tan-skinned immigrant jumped forward with her hands stretched to grab the wizard by the braid, but Mana raised her feet against Izumi's chest and flipped her overhead.

At the rate of things, these two were going to destroy the entire guild in less than five minutes. Someone needed to intervene, but the guild members either were too scared or just simply didn't want to. So Blaise brought it upon herself to settle this dispute, jumping to the table nearest to them.

"All right that's enough!" Blaise proclaimed strictly. "You two need to settle down before someone gets – AHH!"

Mana had ducked under one of Izumi's punches, which consequently knocked against her feline comrade and set her flying halfway around the guild hall. But even with the possibility of her Exceed partner injured, Izumi continued to strike against the braided wizard. Meanwhile, the unfortunate Exceed bounced against nearly fifty of the guild wizards, knocking them out of their seats or breaking their mugs. She only stopped once she landed on the opposite side of the bar – Carla grinned in satisfaction. And just when you thought it couldn't get any worse…..

"FIGHT!" A random wizard screamed.

And that's when all hell broke loose. Every wizard was jumping out their seats, throwing their glasses against the wall, upturning tables, and generally trying to beat the crap out of each other. Grace and Razor moved seamlessly from attack to defense to support each other without missing a beat. Mesh literally jumped into the middle of the fray, creating a large dog pile beneath him. Joules chose a rough and tough approach to things, punching the teeth out of everyone that came near him – he didn't even hesitate to knockout Mesh. Glace spent his time dodging and weaving around the fight and Asuka was chasing down some poor bastard that accidentally touched her ass. Kit used his/her female form to gain sex appeal with the men before promptly changing her gender and punching their lights out.

All the while, Haru was still at the counter, begging for food, and Luna was still cleaning the glass with a passive smile on her face, ignorant to the pieces of broken furniture flying past her. Blaise weakly crawled to the top of the bar counter, where Carla was observing the outbreak with Sora and Wendy – a pregnant Dragon Slayer would only make things worse.

"Is it always like this?" Blaise questioned tiredly.

"Yep." Carla answered shortly.

"You seem to be taking this well." Blaise sweat-dropped.

"Everybody, settle down!" Ur shouted, trying to get everyone's attention. "Before master…"

"Hey, Ur." Kit appeared in male form, draping his arm on the Ice-Make wizard's shoulder. "The guys won't fall for the same trick twice, so you think you could flash a couple of guys for me?"

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Ur screeched, delivering a solid uppercut to the mixed-gender wizard.

"This is no place for a beautiful lady." Joules said smoothly, lifting the girl bridal-style. "Let's go back to my place and have some fun."

"Do you ever take a break?" Asuka shouted as she punched the player in the face, promptly dropping Ur on the ground.

"Take that, bitch!" Razor yelled, kicking Asuka across the hall.

"Razor, don't kick Asuka!" Grace demanded with a strong karate crop to her partner's head.

"All right, this has gone on long enough!" Ur bellowed, slamming her fist into her palm to create her summoning circle. "I'm gonna stop this fight one way or another!"

"You guys are all dead!" Asuka sneered, withdrawing he custom-silver pistol.

"In the words of Uncle Elfman…" Kit grinned, transforming into hulking male. "I'll show you how a real man does it!"

"Let's go, Grace!" Razor yelled, exposing four lengthy blades from his wrist.

"Right behind you, Razor!" Grace nodded; her eyes turning milky-white.

"I'm all charged up!" Joules shouted; a surge of electricity coursed through his body.

"It's party time!" Mesh cheered, somehow creating eight sets of extra arms on his back.

"I was hoping to avoid all this…" Glace sighed, forming a circle with his hands. "But you leave me no other choice."

"I getting tired of you!" Mana growled, throwing out her hand to create two ocean-blue summoning circles. "Why don't I just finish you off now?"

"Bring it on, bitch!" Izumi responded with his fists coated in black flames.

"Hungry…" Haru moaned, completely oblivious to the situation.

"Oh dear." Luna mused softly, finally putting down the mug in her hands. "Things seem to be getting a little out of control."

"A little?" Blaise shrieked; her eyes practically popping out of her skull. "They could destroy the entire town!"

With a guild like Fairy Tail, that was a strong possibility. With everyone using their abilities simultaneously, the result of intermingling magic could prove to be disastrous and end up eradicating everything within a five mile radius…again. Quite a few members seemed to realize this and were hesitant to attack, but for the hard-headed types like Izumi and Mana – both of whom were glaring daggers for unknown reasons – wouldn't waste a moment. As it was, everyone was waiting for someone to make the first move. The Black Dragon Slayer and her new rival were slowly inching towards one another when suddenly…

"What is going on here?" A booming and heated voice intruded.

Izumi nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected sound, but also noticed that members of the guild had grown increasingly pale all of a sudden. Everyone was quick to extinguish their magic, including Mana and Izumi, and turned around to face the entrance of the staircase.

Standing at the bottom step was a woman in her late thirties with lengthy, scarlet-red hair that was spiked in every direction and hazel –brown eyes that were narrowed in the deepest scowl. She wore a set of armor that seemed very out of place, but was helpful to instill fear in the guild. He wore a sui of black armor that was adorned with what seemed to be over thirty spikes, passive pauldrons with three spikes on each, bladed gauntlets, spiked boots, and many bat-winged plates around her waist. She carried an impossibly large club on her shoulder, which was – you guessed it – covered in spikes.

The devil woman glared at the guild members, almost daring them to move so that she may bludgeon them to a bloody pulp. When no one made a move, she slammed her club into the floor, creating a wide crater in the wooden paneling. Those who were closest to her lost their nerve and dived away, using some of their friends as shields to protect themselves. Unfortunately, Ur ended up being pushed to the front of the crowd, coming face-to-face with the scary woman.

"H-hey, Master Erza." Ur chuckled nervously. "I see you have your Purgatory Armor out – looks great on you."

"You know I do not permit infighting within my guild." Master Erza said coldly; the Ice-Make wizard actually shivered. "Who started this?"

"They did!" The guild shouted simultaneously.

The whole of the guild formed a path straight down the middle, all pointing in the same direction. Izumi and Mana, who were both pointing at each other, were the unfortunate ones to be caught in the center of attention. If it was even possible, Master Erza's scowl darkened even further. The blood-haired Guild Master stepped around the shaking Ur, grabbing her spiked club as she marched down the line. There was pity in everyone's eyes – how unfortunate for two young girls to be taken in the prime of their life. Izumi and Mana were actually holding each other for support, despite their mutual animosity. Fairy Tail's Guild Master stopped directly in front of them, looking from one girl to the other like a predator waiting to pounce.

"Mana, this is unexpected of you." Master Erza said sternly. "Since this is you first offense, you will receive a light punishment."

"Th-thank you, Master." Mana stammered fearfully, ripping herself away from Izumi and disappearing into the crowd.

"But you…" Master Erza growled; Izumi squeaked quietly. "I won't tolerate outsiders causing trouble in my guild. What is your name, what guild are you from?"

"I-I-I'm not in a guild yet." Izumi gulped, trying to build up what little courage she had left. "B-But I was hoping of joining Fairy Tail like my mom and dad did."

"You're mother and father?" Master Erza repeated curiously, raising a brow to the girl. "Who are you?"

"M-My name is Izumi A. Dragneel." Izumi answered nervously. "My parents were Natsu Dragneel and Lucy Heartfilia."

"Natsu and Lucy…" Master Erza murmured softly.

A sudden stream of hushed voices broke out amongst the members of Fairy Tail, all of which were discussing Izumi and her assumed parentage. Natsu and Lucy were pretty famous in Fairy Tail along with Gray, Wendy, Gajeel, and the Guild Master herself. But they didn't really know much of them having a daughter. All the while, Master Erza's eyes never left the tanned-foreigner. It took a lot of nerve to claim something as wild as being the child of two famous Fairy Tail wizards, but…there was just something about her that made the master want to believe her. Finally, with a hearty sigh, Master Erza smiled and her armored exploded in a ray of light.

Izumi was blinded until the light died down, at which time the Guild Master was sporting an entirely different look. Her scarlet-red hair was neat and straight and her features softened into a gentle smile. Her attire changed to a sterling-silver breastplate with the famous golden Heart Kreuz symbol on the right and the Fairy Tail symbol on the left side, directly over her heart. She also wore a cobalt-blue skirt that reached to her knees, a pair of silver gauntlets with red orbs in the knuckles, red opal pauldrons, and a pair of silver steel boots. Izumi also noted the white cross/clover symbol on the back of her armor that she remembered seeing in Sorcerer Weekly – it was the mark of the Ten Wizard Saints.

Master Erza stepped closer to the Black Dragon Slayer, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. Izumi briefly flinched, expecting to be punished, but was surprised by the soft smile spreading across the Guild Master's features. It looked like even the fearsome master of Fairy Tail had a soft side.

"Izumi A. Dragneel…" Master Erza spoke softly, brushing a few strands of stray hair from Izumi's face in a motherly fashion. "I should have seen it earlier – you're the spitting imagine of your mother, Lucy. Though when I look into your eyes, I can see the fighting spirit of your father, Natsu. Both of them were close friends of mine. It was heartbreaking when I found out they had…passed on."

"Marina told me all about you." Izumi said, no longer fearing the woman. "She would tell all the adventures you went on with mom, dad, and Gray. I always loved listening to all the great things they've done and it's always been my dream to join Fairy Tail like them. So…" She twiddled her fingers nervously. "Do you think…it would be all right if I joined?"

"As the daughter of Natsu and Lucy," Master Erza grinned. "It would be an insult to their memory if you didn't join." The Guild Master pulled Izumi into a strong hug, slamming the poor girl's head into her amazingly thick armor. "Luna, free drinks all around! Today, we celebrate the arrival of our newest member, Izumi Dragneel!"

The guild hall exploded in a roar of cheers, more for the free booze than the person they were celebrating. The Black Dragon Slayer managed to separate herself from Master Erza – her head ringing like a bell – only to be tackled into a cheerful hug by Blaise and Ur.

"_**November 15, X811.**__"_ Izumi narrated in her head. _"__**I finally joined Fairy Tail, the Guild of my dreams.**__"_

The Black Dragon Slayer was sitting in a close circle around the nearest table surrounded by Ur, Blaise, and the members of Team Soul Stealer and Team Shard Caster.

"_**There are a lot of strange people in this place, but I'm not really all that different. I'm sure I'll be making a lot of new friend here.**__"_

Izumi and Mana briefly caught eyes with one another before promptly turning around in a huff.

"_**I also made an unexpected rival on my first day – guess I'm more like dad than I thought."**_

The Black Dragon Slayer was called to the opposite side of the guild, where Master Erza was waiting with a stamp press in hand.

"_**This place is a bit insane and I don't know how well things will work out for me, but I do know one thing for sure…**__"_

Master Erza pressed the stamp hard on Izumi's right shoulder and once removed displayed the symbol of Fairy Tail forever imprinted on her skin in red ink – just like her father.

"_**I already love Fairy Tail!**__" _Izumi mentally cheered.

* * *

**Please, read and review.**

**Next Time: Welcome to Fairy Hills**

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**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Blaise**  
Age: **8**  
Magic: **Battle Mode**  
Likes: **Izumi, sushi, milk  
**Dislikes: **dogs, water, Carla**  
Relatives: **Izumi Dragneel (Partner), Marina (Legal Guardian)**  
Description: **A disciplined, yet kindly-natured feline with boundless knowledge well beyond her years. After being hatched and raised by Izumi, Blaise has taken it upon herself to be her partner and guide the Black Dragon Slayer. She has developed a rivalry with Fairy Tail's Carla in pursuit of becoming the next Exceed ruler.


	5. 5 Welcome to Fairy Hills

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

**Note: Last chapter of the Introduction Arc**

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**Chapter Five: Welcome to Fairy Hills**

Yesterday had been the greatest time in the life of Izumi A. Dragneel. Not only had seen be able to join Fairy Tail – her dream guild and the place where her parents met – but she had made a great number of new friends and even got to meet some of her idols. Though her unexpected and mostly unexplained rivalry with the daughter of the guild's heaviest drinker did put a damper on the celebration quite a bit, but she was able to work past that. But that was yesterday and now Izumi and Blaise were left to deal with their greatest crisis yet: house hunting.

Meeting up with their legal guardian after the party in Fairy Tail, the girls had found out that Marina had started renting an apartment in downtown Magnolia. But when they found out that the apartment was only one-room, Marina firmly explained that she was renting the place for herself and wouldn't be supporting the girls now that they were in Fairy Tail. She claimed that it was a good learning experience and that they need to provide for themselves now that they were growing up. Unfortunately, this left them homeless for the night and they crawled back to the Guild Hall – Erza was kind enough to let them sleep in the back room for the night. Once their situation had been fully explained, the mighty Titania told them of possible place for them to stay.

And now, Izumi and her Exceed partner were climbing up the hillside just a short distance away from the Guild Hall. Izumi was pairing a blue suitcase and duffle bag over her right should while Blaise carried a red sack over her back similar to another Exceed in Fairy Tail. The partnering duo steadily reached the top of the hill, looking particularly impressed with the area.

The building looked something similar to the college dormitories in Seven with perfect-white walls, crystal-clear glass windows fitted with artistic designs, and a modest shingle roof that appeared to be well maintained. At the entrance of the building was a stone archway topped with gilded Fairy Tail symbols and a wide sign with the words "FAIRY HILLS" in bold red letters. Needless to say, the building deserved a passing grade in Izumi's opinion.

"So this is Fairy Hills, huh?" Izumi commented, whistling impressively. "Wow, it's even bigger than how Master Erza described it. And look, it's got the perfect view of the ocean from all directions. I wonder if they have anything with a balcony directly over the beach – it would be just like something out of those romance novels."

"The exterior is impressive." Blaise nodded, sounding slightly suspicious. "But how much is it going to cost us?"

"The rent is 100,000 a month." A small voice chirped.

"Eh?" Izumi blinked.

Having been distracted by the wide dormitory, the Dragon Slayer duo had almost missed the little girl sweeping the porch. Based on her height and appearance, she couldn't have been older than eight years old. The young girl had short, jet-black hair that framed her face with the exception of the long, braided ponytail in the back and honey-brown eyes. She wore a traditional maid's outfit including a black dress with a white apron, white stockings, polished-black shoes, and a white headband. Just from the outfit and the fact that she was sweeping the yard with a broom much larger than herself, Izumi had to guess that she was the caretaker of the dorm. But to be able to clean up a large building after a group of rowdy wizards seemed like a tough job for one little girl.

"Uh…excuse me." Izumi said, catching the girl's attention. "What did you just say?"

"Renting a room in Fairy Hills costs 100,000 jewels per month." The girl giggled; The Dragon Slayer duo looked dumbstruck. "Didn't you know?"

"100,000 jewels!" Blaise hissed to her partner. "We don't have that kind of money!"

"Maybe we could ask the landlady for a discount." Izumi whispered.

"Oh, you guys must be the new renters staying in the dorms!" The little girl stated, tapping herself with the broomstick in sudden realization. "Nee-chan's been waiting for you! Hang on, let me go get here!" She carefully leaned the broom against the wall, being extra cautious to clean her shoes before entering the building. "Erza-Mama! The new renters are here!"

"Erza!" Izumi and Blaise shrieked simultaneously.

Undoubtedly, the armored Guild Master of Fairy Tail emerged from the dormitory a few moments later with the young child nipping at her heels. Somewhere in the back of Blaise's mind, this didn't seem all that surprising. Who better to maintain order in household full of hormonal, rambunctious teenage girls than the terrifying Titania? The scarlet-haired wizard approached the Black Dragon Slayer and unexpectedly pulled the tan-skinned foreigner into a swift hug, consequently earning Izumi a powerful migraine.

"Izumi, Blaise, I'm so glad you two could make it." Erza smiled, letting the poor girl go. "Welcome to Fairy Hills, the all-girl dormitory for Fairy Tail wizards. There are a few rules you must follow if you want to stay here, but most important is that you are not allowed to bring any boys in the dorms after six." The Titania stared down at the Dragon Slayer with menacing dark eyes, scaring the young foreigner quite a bit. "I see and know all, so there won't be any funny business, got it?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" Izumi squeaked.

"Good." Erza nodded proudly before turning to the little maid, who curtsied ceremoniously to the two. "I'm sure you had the chance to meet our housekeeper, Pulito. She is in charge of cleaning up the dorm and making sure everything is in proper shape."

"Isn't she a little young?" Izumi asked.

"Pulito is just a child." Erza chuckled, patting the maid on the head. "But Fairy Hills has never been in a better state. We hired her last year and the hallways were literally sparkling on the first day. All the trash was properly disposed, the dishes were put away, the dorm rooms were tidied up, and even the rusty water pipes were cleaned." Pulito was red with embarrassment at the woman's praise. "Fairy Hills is in good hands with Pulito around, so I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay here."

"Um, Master, we have a bit of a problem." Blaise proclaimed, earning the attention of the landlady. "Pulito told us that the monthly rent was 100,000 jewels. We don't have that kind of money."

"Hmm…that is a problem." Erza hummed, tapping her chin in thought. "I don't normally do this, but I think I'll be willing to make an exception just this once. For the first month, I'll cut your rent to 70,000 jewels. That should be enough to cover a couple of missions. But after that, you must pay the same fees as everyone else. Just because Natsu and Lucy were your parents, you shouldn't expect special treatment."

"Right!" Izumi nodded excitedly.

"Now then, how about a tour of the dorms?"

Izumi squealed with excitement that not even Blaise's solemn scolding could bring her down. She was actually going to be staying in the same dormitory as the famous Titania and the women of Fairy Tail! The scarlet-haired Master stepped up to the front door and pushed it open, letting the young Dragon Slayer have a good view of the lobby.

Just as Master Erza had said, the entire area was completely spotless – Izumi could see her own reflection in the walls! The room was rather simple with hardwood floor paneling, a comfortable couch and leather chair, a nice little rug underneath a furnished table, and desk on the opposite. It reminded the girls of the many hotel lobbies they had stayed at when taking vacations around Seven.

"So cool~" Izumi said excitedly, taking her first step into the dormitory.

"NO!" Pulito screamed

The Black Dragon Slayer was taken by surprise when the tiny maid tackled her by the legs, causing her to fall flat on her face into the hardwood floor. With surprising force, the little housekeeper spun the new tenant around and brandished a spray bottle and a wire brush with a menacing gleam in her eye. And the next thing she knew, Izumi was being viciously scrubbed down by a girl half her age and size, who was showing an incredible amount of strength and stamina to be able to hold down the Dragon Slayer. Blaise just stood their dumbfounded until Pulito grabbed her by the tail and dragged the Exceed into the painful cleansing.

The struggle only took a few moments until Pulito finally walked away, clapping her hands proudly to herself, leaving both foreigners groaning weakly from the tingling feeling in their skin. Sitting up tensely, Izumi noticed that her skin and clothes had been scrubbed down to the point where her tan was almost unnoticeable – though she knew it would be back in a matter of minutes. As for her partner, Izumi tried to resist the urge to laugh as the Exceed's fur was fluffed outrageously, giving her glare an almost comedic look.

"I should have mentioned it before." Erza said, having transformed her armor into a white cat-girl suit during the scrub down. "Pulito has an obsessive compulsive disorder to keep things clean and sanitary. If you bring even the smallest speck of dirt into this house, she will hunt you down."

"What the hell is with that outfit?" Blaise exclaimed shockingly.

"Do you like it?" Erza asked, modeling for the girls. "I was wearing the exact same outfit when I showed Lucy around. She was wearing the exact same thing when she took her first tour."

"My…my mom was…a cosplay freak?" Izumi cried unbelievably. She quickly found the darkest corner of the room and emasculated herself in a depressing aura. "So…many…dreams…shattered."

"Oh dear, I think you broke her." Blaise commented.

* * *

After pulling the poor girl out of her slump, the Guild Master personally showed the young foreigner to her room, which was situated in the center of the hall on the right-hand side. The room was rather plain with its sky-blue wall paint and pink carpet, but Erza told them they would redecorate the place in any way they wanted as long as it was within reason. There was a firm mattress in the right-hand corner with sky-blue sheets, a desk and dresser on the opposite side of the room, and a wide vanity dressed tucked away in the corner. But the best part was the white-framed doors that led to an open-spaced balcony, overlooking the perfect view of the ocean.

"Awesome!" Izumi cheered, feeling the ocean winds whipping against her face. "This is exactly what I wanted!"

"I had a feeling you would like it." Erza nodded, watching the girls set their baggage on the bed. "The rooms provide all the essentials, so any extras you're going to have to bring yourself."

"So where's the television?" Izumi asked curiously.

"What a…television?" Erza responded in confusion.

Apparently, those were not the words that the immigrants from Seven wanted to hear. It was only three words, but the question earned a huge response from the new tenants. Without a word of warning, Izumi and Blaise screeched in absolute horror, making the hair on Erza's cat suit stand on end. The Dragon Slayer started running around in circles around the room, screaming at the top of their lungs as if they were being tortured by the devil himself – Erza was tempted to summon her largest sword at that point.

"Blaise, they don't have TV in Fiore!" Izumi screeched terrifyingly. "What are we going to do?"

"Wait!" Blaise yelled, raising her paw in defiance. "I've prepared for this moment!"

The rich-purple Exceed clawed her way up to Izumi's suitcase, kicking the side and snapping it open. Blaise burrowed her way through her partner's magazines, beauty products and sexy underwear – Erza was red-faced when one of them landed at her feet – until the Exceed found what she was looking for. With a grunt, Blaise pulled out a black box with a glass screen and ran across the room to settle the device on the dresser. Izumi pressed the buttons with a sense of urgency, finally taking a deep breath of relief when a moving picture finally appeared on the screen.

"And once again, everything is right with the world." Izumi sighed.

"It's amazing we can even get satellite in this place." Blaise nodded, climbing her way up to her partner's shoulder. "But then again, I don't really care. As long as I get my soap operas, I'm happy."

"I don't really understand what's going on here, but I can tell you one thing." Erza stated with a serious look in her eyes and her hands (paws?) at her hips. "To allow yourself to be so consumed in something such as this…thing is disgraceful. Back in my day…"

"_We now return to The Young and the Stupid._" The television announced.

"_I am sorry, Carmelita._" The male actor said dramatically. "_I love you, but_ _I have committed a terrible crime and must atone for what I have done! And for that purpose, we cannot be together!_"

"NO!" Erza cried, suddenly pushing the girls aside and clutching the television for dear life. "It doesn't matter what happened, you still be together! Don't give up on love just yet!"

"Um…master." Blaise sweat-dropped. "Weren't you going to show us the rest of the place?"

"Uh…right! Of course!" Erza coughed embarrassingly, trying to regain her sense of dignity. "Let's um…start down stairs."

* * *

Possibly in hopes of erasing that embarrassing moment in Izumi's room, the mighty Titania showed the new tenants the public areas of the dormitory including the open bath area, the library, and even the small swimming pool in the backyard. And as a treat, Izumi and Blaise were giving an exclusive look in Erza Scarlet's room. The "room" turned out to be eight separate dorm rooms all conjoined together into one lengthy hall way that lead to Erza's four-post bed with red-satin sheets. Lined up in a neat row along the walls were, unsurprisingly, Erza's complete collection of armor and weapons all given special placement and left in perfect condition. How the hell she managed to pay for all this was beyond her.

"That was…something, Master." Izumi chuckled as they reached the lobby. "You really have a lot of armor and weapons."

"There is a limit to the amount I can store in my magic zone." Erza explained. "The stuff I can't bring I leave in my room."

"It is nothing less than impressive." Blaise complimented until she noticed something different about the scenery. "Hey, who's that?"

Erza and Izumi looked in the direction the Exceed was point, noticing the appearance of a girl Izumi had never met before. She looked kinda young and had an almost child-like build with wavy-blond hair and large, emerald green eyes. She wore a frilly, white-pink layered dress with intricate patterns around the abdomen and white wing adornments around her ears. She didn't bother wearing shoes, possibly as a way to avoid becoming another casualty in Pulito's ongoing war against dirt.

With a new face in her sight, the majesty-looking girl practically glided across the hall, stopping short of the trio.

"Hello, Seventh." She greeted Erza kindly. "You brought a new friend today?"

"She is the newest member of Fairy Tail!" Erza answered proudly, slapping the Dragon Slayer hard on the back. "This is Izumi A. Dragneel, Natsu and Lucy's daughter. And the Exceed on her shoulder is her partner, Blaise. I was just showing them around the dorms."

"That's wonderful." The girl cheered, clapping her hands happily. "I love meeting new people! My name is Mavis Vermillion! I'm sure we'll become good friends!"

"Mavis Vermillion…" Izumi hummed thoughtfully. "Wait…was that the name of the…"

"I'm sorry I can't stay and talk." Mavis giggled, suddenly floating several feet off the ground. "But I really should be getting back to Tenrou Island soon – It doesn't do too well if I'm away from my grave for very long. Put I promise, I'll come and visit you again very soon."

With that said, Mavis dissolved into a shower of fairy lights and floated out the window and into the open skies, only just barely avoiding the assault from Pulito's vicious broom. Meanwhile, Izumi and Blaise were left stupefied with their eyes bulging out of their sockets and their jaws practically digging into the floorboard. If you had just met the ghost of Mavis Vermillion, the Mother of Fairies and the founder of the Fairy Tail guild, your expression wouldn't be any different.

"You're lucky." Erza said nonchalantly, clapping the teenager's shoulder. "Not many people can say they met the First Guild Master on their first day."

* * *

It was probably going to take a little longer getting used to having the ghost of the First Guild Master popping for random visits – it sorta borderlines on the definition of creepy. Erza, however, remained oblivious to Izumi's obvious discomfort and decided to give the young Dragon Slayer a tour of the rooms, which the consent of the owners. Blaise had elected to greet the neighbors first and chose the one directly to the right of Izumi's bedroom.

Once getting permission to enter, both foreigners from Seven felt an immediate drop in temperature and were shivering down to their bones. The entire room was made entirely of ice from the walls to the floor to even the crystalized doorknob – that was actually very fancy, but still cold. Frozen versions of various pieces of furniture was masterly sculpted with perfect detail – floor molding shaped like blooming orchids, chairs were topped with Fairy Tail markings, and even the frozen rug was shaped like a perfect snowflake.

It didn't take much thought to know who lived here and looking over to the opposite end of the room, Izumi's suspicions were confirmed. Ur Fullbuster was spread out on the icy block she called a bed with a magazine in hand and – much to the shock of Izumi and Blaise – was buck naked. The Ice-Make Wizard looked over briefly when the door open and smiled brilliantly when seeing her new best friend walking through the threshold. She quickly jumped off her bed and hugged the Dragon Slayer; Izumi felt too uncomfortable to return the embrace.

"Izumi, I didn't know you were coming!" Ur shouted happily, releasing her friend.

"Izumi just moved in today." Erza explained. "She'll be your new neighbor from now on."

"That's great!" Ur cheered until she noticed the stupefied look on the Dragon Slayer's face. "Oh, I bet you're wondering what I'm doing here instead of living with my mom and dad. Well, I decided to move out when I turned thirteen so that I could be more independent during my missions. Plus, I can decorate my room any way I want without my parents telling me no."

"Actually…I was wonder…" Izumi said hesitantly, scratching her cheek embarrassingly. "Did you lose your underwear somewhere?"

"No." Ur answered simply. "I always walk around dorms like this – it gets a nice breeze."

"_Did she just admit that openly?_" Izumi sweat-dropped.

"Doesn't the master have rules against that?" Blaise questioned curiously.

"She never stopped me before." Ur shrugged; she moved in closer to whisper into her friend's ear. "Between you and me, I think Master Erza might be a little bi. One time, I found a whole stack of porno magazines under her…"

Not a moment later, Ur's head was smashed through the icicle mattress by the fearsome Titania herself – pools of red were splattered within the ice. Erza quickly pulled the Dragon Slayer and Exceed away from the crime scene with a menacing gaze in her eyes and a wicked smile that would make the devil tremble in terror.

"Let's move on, shall we?" Erza suggested

"Ur…" Izumi whimpered.

* * *

The next room they visited belonged to Asuka Cornell, who the foreign duo was on good terms with as long as they didn't bring up the topic on Asuka's ex-boyfriend. The room was everything you would expect from someone who earned the name of Bull's-Eye. The walls were colored in a steel-grey tone with a white carpet and a simply mattress with steel-grey sheets. The majority of the room was filled with shelves and boxes containing every assortment of firearms from a palm-sized pistol to a military grade Gatling gun.

But most likely the main concern with the thick cloud of smoke hovering around the ceiling; Izumi and Blaise started choking the first moment they entered. Though the resident chain-smoker seemed largely unaffected by the polluted air, sitting casually in the center table with an ashtray piled high with used cigarettes. Asuka had taken in a deep puff when she was greeted by the Guild Master and the new Fairies, putting her smoke out on the table surface before reaching for another.

"Were you smoking again?" Erza questioned strictly, somehow unaffected by the cloud of smog.

"Maybe a little." Asuka responded, lighting the new cigarette with her custom pistol. "So what?"

"Air…" Izumi coughed, struggling to open the door. It had somehow locked behind them and both the Dragon Slayer and Exceed with attempting to claw their way through. "Need…air."

"Smoking is very hazardous to your health." Erza stated in a motherly tone. "It can lead to cancer, liver failure, and other kinds of diseases that could hurt you. As your master, I am simply suggesting you take into consideration of your own health and the health of those around you. I take pride in knowing I am ensuring the welfare of my Nakama."

"Help…us…" Blaise begged weakly.

"Not now." Erza replied quickly.

"I don't need a lecture from you – I get enough of those from my parents." Asuka responded with a big puff. "But if you really want, I can try to cut down from my usual twenty-four smokes to twenty-three."

"I think your parents would be proud of you." Erza nodded.

"Can't…breathe…" Izumi said before passing out.

* * *

After some intensive CPR from Ur – who was still naked when they woke up – Erza led the new tenants to Grace's room. In comparison to the rest of her roommates, Grace's room seemed…normal. The blue-haired girl's room had simple, hot-pink wallpaper with a white carpet that went well with the area, and apparently the only ceiling fan in the dorms. Her bed was tucked away in the upper-right corner next to the doorway to the balcony, a simple set of mahogany dresser and wardrobe, and row of shelves on the left-hand side filled with various trophies and awards. There were a couple of posters of some of the more famous characters in Fairy Tail on the walls and a few stuffed animals at the head of her bed.

Izumi was the one to notice the picture of her and Razor sitting on the bedside table – she was definitely crushing on him. Grace quickly picked up on Izumi's direction of sight and "conveniently" sidestepped to block the picture with her cheeks cherry-red.

"Master, Izumi, Blaise." Grace greeted courteously. "What can I do for you?"

"Izumi is moving in today." Erza answered happily. "I was just giving her a tour of the rooms."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Grace cheered, taking Izumi's hands into her own. "We're going to be roommates! This is going to be so much fun! We could have sleepovers or do each other's hair or pulls some good pranks on the other girls!

"Or, you could tell me about your boyfriend." Izumi suggested slyly.

It happened so fast that the Black Dragon Slayer wasn't sure what happened. Within a split second of time, the foreign girl was slumping on the girl with a deep gash on her forehead and a river of blood trailing down her face. Grace was standing over the unfortunate Dragon Slayer holding a paperback book with the binding soaked in Izumi's plasma, looking a cross between embarrassed and horrified. Blaise was gapping in shock, but Erza seemed to be more focused on the trophy case.

"Does this…always happen…?" Blaise asked slowly.

"No." Erza answered without looking. "Usually it's leather bound."

* * *

Izumi was seriously reconsidering staying at Fairy Hills. Within an hour, she had already been haunted by a ghost, suffered frostbite, chocked herself to death in smoke, and most likely lost several hundred brain cells. That in addition to the OCD cleaning girl and the armor-wearing master, it was enough to drive anyone insane. Master Erza was leading the Dragon Slayer Duo to the last border in the house, but she had not stated who the person was. If she was anything like the others, she was moving out.

…She may as well start packing her bags now.

As the armored Guild Master threw open the door, Izumi and Blaise were greeted by a more…traditional space. The walls were stone-brown and the texture gave it a rocky appearance, which was complimented by tribal drawings and graphic designs. The bed was moss-green cot with matching sheets, the dresser and wardrobe were replaced by more traditional designs, and the desk was littered with piles of paper on random subjects. On the left-hand wall was a lengthy board with over a hundred pictures and articles pinned to it, usually connected by red string. Everything looked like a cross between paranoia office and an excavation camp.

But by far the worst thing about the scenery was the fact that Mana Alberona was sitting at the desk, ruffling through the mounds of paper with interest. The side-braided woman looked over her shoulder when the door to her room opened, jumping to her feet at the sight of her hated rival. There was no logic or reason behind the girl's mutual dislike – it just came natural.

"What are you doing here, dragon breath?" Mana growled, getting up-close to the foreigner.

"What's it to you, ya small-boob bitch?" Izumi sneered.

"Izumi and Blaise are going to be living here." Erza said, ignorant to the potential outbreak about to take place in the very room. "I hope you two will become good friends."

"Not a chance in hell!" Mana exclaimed.

"I'd rather have my throat cut out than be friends with her!" Izumi snapped.

"I said…" Erza pronounced more forcefully, cracking her knuckles (paws?) loudly with a malevolent stare. "I hope you two will become good friends! Do I make myself clear?"

"Of course!" Mana shouted merrily, doing an animated dance with the Dragon Slayer. "Good friends, best friends! Right, Izumi?"

"Aye, sir!" Izumi shouted, most likely out of fear.

"_Well, that's one way to do things._" Blaise sweat-dropped.

"Good." Erza nodded, not realizing that the truce was only temporary. "Now that we have all met, I asked Pulito to prepare a welcoming feast down by the pool. I hope you will join me very soon."

The moment the armored master stepped out of the room, Izumi and Mana pushed each other aside and resumed glaring. Nothing would have satisfied them both than to knock the lights out of their opponent, but that would not be wise with the Titania under the same roof. Still leering at the tribal-dressed wizard, the Black Dragon Slayer grabbed her partner and made her way back to her room – Mana slammed the door behind them.

* * *

"_**November 16, X811" **_Izumi narrated

The Black Dragon Slayer, wearing her personalized bathing suit, ran outside to greet her new roommates by the poolside just as the sun was starting to set over the horizon. A string of lights were hung around the trees to give the area a calming glow and a table stacked with various foods and a layered cake was situated at the edge of the pool. The Black Dragon Slayer was greeted with the cheers from the various girls in Fairy Tail, all throwing streamers and yelling at the arrival of their newest member.

"_**Living in Fairy Hills is going to be a different experience. I've always had Marina to take care of me, so striking out on my own can be a little scary."**_

Absorbed into their little party, the girls went off to do their own thing. Blaise was casually lounging on an inner tube with Grace pushing the Exceed around the water with a soft giggle. Ur had offered Izumi a piece of cake, but she declined due to the awkwardness of having a naked girl serve her food. Pulito followed everyone like a cougar, ready to pounce if even the tiniest crumb had touched her precious floor. The two Guild Masters were in hushed discussion over something concerning Fairy Tail and Asuka had moved to the only smoking area in the area, taking the deepest breath she could to sate her addiction.

"**But with Blaise, Ur, and everyone else helping me, finding my own path doesn't seem so frightening anymore."**

The only person who hadn't joined in on the celebration was Mana, who had taken to watching the party from the roof.

"_**Though if I had a choice, I'd prefer different neighbors. Oh well, you can't always get what you want."**_

* * *

**Please, Read and Review or Pulito will sick her wire brush on you.**

**Next Time: Kane the Iron Fist!**

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Erza Scarlet  
**Age: **39  
**Magic: **Re-quip – The Knight  
**Likes: **Weapons, armor, cheesecake  
**Dislikes: **Evildoers, rule breakers  
**Relatives: **Jak Scarlet (Son), Pulito Neteso (Adopted Daughter)  
**Description: **Once revered as the invincible Titania, Erza now presides as Fairy Tail's seventh Guild Master and an active member of the Ten Wizard Saints. She views all of Fairy Tail as her family and will throw herself into danger without a moment's hesitation to defend her nakama. Erza is confirmed to be married, but the identity of her husband and the father of her child remains a mystery.


	6. 6 Kane the Iron Fist

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

**Note: First chapter of the Spirit King Arc**

**Note: As of now, I am enacting my One-or-None Policy. That means that unless there is at least one review for this and future chapters posted, all stories will come to a definite halt. That includes Naruto: Jinchuriki Chronicles, Dissidia: Secrets, and Birds or Prey.**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Kane the Iron Fist**

As the blinding sun peeked through the opening in the curtains, Izumi groaned lazily and pulled the covers over her head, wishing that morning would wait for a few more hours. Her first night in Fairy Hills had been full of food, laughter, and booze – Izumi was the only one that couldn't have any since she was still a year underage and Master Erza is very strict on rules. Though it was slightly awkward for the Black Dragon Slayer since her best friend – Ur Fullbuster – had no shame walking around in public naked. But that aside, Izumi milked her welcoming ceremony for all that it was worth and partied well into the night.

But now that it was morning, Izumi was seriously regretting it – she was starting to understand why Marina always insisted on going to bed early. When it became apparent that the sun wasn't going to go away, the foreign teenager pushed the covers down with an exasperated sigh. Since she was too lazy to get up at the moment, the Black Dragon Slayer looked around her room – she was excited to say those words. Since she had just moved in, it was reasonable to say that the space was empty with the exception of the common necessities, including a television she brought from Seven. Already, the blond newcomer was thinking of ways to personalize her room that matched her personalities. Perhaps purchasing some polished furniture, a couple of lawn chairs and an umbrella for the balcony, a decent sized bookshelf to place her favorite novels, and a couple of posters displaying famous wizards, particularly Fairy Tail.

One thing that she was definitely going to do was change the carpet color to white and replace the wallpaper to something that matched Marina's hair. Yes, she admits it: Izumi A. Dragneel is a mama's girl. Though Marina had never made any attempt to replace her mother, Izumi had always viewed the woman as a mother figure and was very attached to her. She glanced over at that picture of her and Marine when the Dragon Slayer was seven years-old, holding the giant egg that would one day become Blaise. Said Exceed was sleeping in her cute little cat bed on the floor, swiping her paws in her sleep – Izumi snickered at the partner.

With a deep sigh, the blond wizard leaned further back into her pillow with her hands behind her head, wondering what she was going to do on her first day in Fairy Tail. Maybe she could pick out her first job. Now that she was in the Fairy Tail Guild and would need the money to pay room and board, she would need to take as many jobs as possible. But what kind of mission would she take. Stuck in deep though over this, Izumi turned over on her side…and Mavis Vermillion was staring unblinkingly at her. It took close to a whole minute before Izumi's brain finally caught up.

"Son of a…!" Izumi screeched, tumbling out of bed with a heavy thud. The sudden noise caused her partner to wake abruptly and cling to the nearest object with her fur standing on end. Once going through the task of escaping her sheets, the Black Dragon Slayer sat up and glared at Fairy Hill's resident ghost, who was giggling amusingly. "Mavis! What are you doing in my room?"

"Watching you sleep." Mavis answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I always like to get a better look at new wizards in Fairy Tail. That, and you look so cute when you sleep, especially when you snore."

"That's just creepy." Izumi said blandly. "And I do not snore."

"Yes, you do." Blaise stated, slowly prying her claws from the bedpost.

"Who asked you." Izumi grumbled.

"Izumi!" The girls looked over as Ur, still bare as the day she was born, entered the room without knocking. "I heard someone screaming and I thought that you were either under attack or Mavis was stalking the new guy." She glances at the aforementioned spirit, who leered at the Ice-Make wizard with a bland expression. "Well, I guess that answers that question.

"I don't stalk people…" Mavis muttered softly.

"Put some pants on already, dammit!" Izumi shouted embarrassingly, throwing a pillow at her best friend's face.

* * *

Swearing to research some anti-ghost spells for her room, Izumi walked down the stairs to the dining room in Fairy Hills with Blaise lazily clinging to her shoulder. Ur followed them down – thankfully finding a pair of pants, shoes, and a bra to cover up – combing her messy hair as she went along. As they walked into the room, the other residents were already clustered around the table, grabbing whatever they could from the massive amounts of food on the table. Izumi noticed that Pulito was hanging out in the corner, armed with her spray bottle and wire brush, looking ready to continue her eternal war against dirt.

As Ur took a seat in an empty chair between Asuka and Grace, the Black Dragon Slayer soon realized that each of the residents was given specific placement. Erza as at the head of the table, which seemed rather obvious considering her status as Guild Master and head matron of Fairy Hills. On Erza's right side was Grace Rosen, who was reading a large novel in between bites, Ur, who oddly preferred her toast frozen, and Asuka, who was surprisingly free of any cigarettes. On Erza's left side was Mavis Vermillion – can ghosts even eat? – and Mana Alberona, who shot a glare at the tan foreigner before returning to her soup.

While the girls were chatting animatedly with each other, Izumi eventually noticed that there was only one free seat left at the table and it was right next to Mana. This was gonna be a problem. The Black Dragon Slayer would try to pick a different spot – preferably one closer to Ur – but she knew Master Erza had a thing about organization and wouldn't appreciate Izumi trying to mess it up. So with a begrudged glare to Mana, Izumi took the free seat as Blaise Gracefully jumped off of her shoulder onto the table.

"Good morning, Izumi." Erza greeted kindly, taking a bite out of her…cheesecake? "I trust you slept well."

"Well, I had better nights." Izumi answered tiredly, reaching for the closest edible item. "Though I could have done much better without the wakeup call." She glared at Mavis, who was looking away, whistling innocently. "But other than that, this place is great. I do want to make a few changes to my room, but I'm gonna need money for that."

"Then I suggest you take on as many missions as you can." Erza stated, brandishing her fork at the Dragon Slayer. "Even with the first month's discount on your rent, it will still take you a while before you can freely spend on personal items. And most of our more experienced members accepting more difficult jobs, finding a high paying mission won't be easy."

"No problem!" Izumi smirked confidently, igniting her fist in black flame. "I'll take any mission you can throw at me! When I'm all fired up, there's nothing that can stop me!"

"She's right, you know." Blaise said nonchalantly, nibbling at her salmon.

"So you're a Dragon Slayer, right?" Grace said interestingly; Izumi nodded her head proudly. "Just like your dad, Natsu "The Salamander" Dragneel. Though your flames are a little different than Natsu's were. In all honesty, I've never heard of Black Flames. Though I guess God Slayer magic could count as Black Flames. But I've never heard of it from a Dragon Slayer."

"I'm a one-of-a-kind Black Dragon Slayer." Izumi stated smugly.

"One-of-a-kind my ass." Mana scoffed, stirring sugar into her coffee. "The value of the Dragon Slayer has really gone down in recent times. Just because you shoot flames from your mouth doesn't make you any special. You may have seemed impressive back in Seven, but your Dragon Slayer title means squat in Fiore."

"You little…" Izumi snared, clenching her black flamed fist.

"She's not exactly lying." Ur intervened, hoping to avoid conflict that with send Pulito on a cleaning rampage. "Back when Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy were in Fairy Tail close to thirty years ago, Dragon Slayers were a very rare breed of wizard. But after they disappeared during the Seven Year Slump, Dragon Slayers were becoming more and more common. Prime examples were Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney from the Sabretooth Guild. Ever since then, more Dragon Slayers have been appearing all over Fiore."

"More…Dragon Slayers." Izumi repeated slowly, looking very disheartened. "Then…I'm just a…"

"They're not real Dragon Slayers." Asuka interrupted, earning a curious glance from the younger girl. "Most of them are what you call Second-Generation Dragon Slayers."

"Second Generation?" Blaise repeated confused.

"People who put Lacrima in their bodies to simulate Dragon Slayer Magic." Ur explained. "It's basically like that fake Natsu we met in Olender Town. They underwent special surgery to make it seem like they were real Dragon Slayers, but Second-Generation Dragon Slayers aren't up to par with First Generation. Well, maybe Laxus, but he's kind of the exception to the rule. But either way, there are a lot of fake Dragon Slayers in Fiore that it's hard to find out which one is real and which one is not. That's why Dragon Slayer Magic isn't as special in this country as it originally was.

"Last time we checked, there were sixteen different guilds with Dragon Slayers." Grace proclaimed. "Including Titan's Nose and Naga Eye. Even Fairy Tail has five Dragons Slayers counting you."

"Wait, five Dragon Slayers?" Izumi blinked clueless, counting off the names with her fingers. "If you count me, Gajeel, Wendy, and Laxus, that makes four. My dad isn't around anymore and I don't remember hearing about any new Dragon Slayers from the Old Generation. So that must mean it's one of the New Generation. Sora looks a little young to be a Dragon Slayer and Wendy can risk teaching him due to her pregnancy. So does that mean Laxus's son, Joules, is the fifth Dragon Slayer?"

"Joules tries to imitate his dad's magic, but Laxus is a Second-Generation Dragon Slayer." Asuka explained. "His magic can't be mimicked."

"Then who's the last one?" Blaise questioned interestingly.

"You already met the person." Ur said knowingly. "It's…"

"Ur!" Erza shouted unexpectedly, causing everyone to jump. "Was there something you want to ask Izumi?"

"Oh…oh, that's right!" Ur said with an excited gleam in her eye as she faced her best friend. "I was thinking that since we made such a great team together back in Olender Town, why don't we become and official team."

"An official team?" Izumi repeated curiously.

"Yeah." Ur nodded. "Even though everyone works together in Fairy Tail, guild members that get along well with each other get together and form small teams within the guild. That way, any jobs that may seem too long or difficult for one person will be a whole lot easier with a team. The only problem is that the team has to divide the reward money equally among its members, but we can work that out later."

"Some of the best members of Fairy Tail work in teams." Erza said with a smile, sipping her tea eloquently. "Glace, Joules, Mesh, and Haru work together as Team Shard Caster and Grace works with Razor in Team Soul Stealers, who are Fairy Tail's strongest team." Grace scratched her head and blushed embarrassingly. "I myself worked on a team with Gray and both your parents. I think it would be a great opportunity for you Izumi."

"It does sound like a good chance for better jobs." Blaise nodded, glancing at her partner. "What do you say, Izumi?"

"What do I say?" Izumi repeated, pushing her chair back and standing up with a wide grin on her face. "I say, what took you so long? I've been waiting to work with you since we've first met."

"Then it's settled!" Ur shouted excitedly, shooting up to her feet and high-fiving her new teammate. "Soon, wizards everywhere will learn of Fairy Tail's strongest team: Team XL!"

"Aye, sir!" Izumi cheered.

The others sitting around the table clapped politely at the newly established team. Except for Mana, who had promptly ignored all the excitement and silently excused herself before walking up the stairs to her room. Izumi couldn't think of how this day could get any better. She spent her first night in Fairy Hills, had the first decent meal in days, and established a new team with her best friend. Nothing could possibly bring down her mood. That was, until the Black Dragon Slayer accidentally spilled a drop of milk on the table cloth.

"DIRTY!" Pulito shrieked demonically; her jet-black hair curled into two devil horns.

Chaos was all that could describe the little maids cleaning frenzy and by the time the girls were allowed to leave, Izumi, Ur, and Blaise were rubbed raw-red and cringed every time they moved an inch.

* * *

The Fairy Tail Guild Hall was lively even at this early hour of the morning. People were crowding around the tables, telling exaggerated tales of previous missions and drinking to their hearts content – Cana was already on her third keg of booze. The members of Team Shard Caster were all cluttered around one table –apparently in a heated discussion with Joules – and Mana had arrived earlier, secluding herself to the farthest corner of the room with a book in hand. Luna had her work cut out for her running back and forth between table, delivering bottles of beer and collecting any empty ones. But over everything going on in the Guild Hall, Izumi's excitement was focused on the small bulletin board nailed to the wall on the right hand side of the bar counter.

After waiting so many years to join Fairy Tail, the tan-skinned immigrant was finally going to take her first job. Her excitement was obvious due to the Black Dragon Slayer pacing impatiently in her spot; Ur chuckled briefly at her partner's enthusiasm. They were forced to wait a couple of minutes for Team Soul Stealers to look over the various missions available before they found one they liked. Grace presented the flyer to Luna, who nodded in acknowledgement, and walked away to whatever mission they accepted. Once the space was clear, Izumi stepped up and scoured over the hundreds of posters and flyers stapled to the board.

The Dragneel girl never realized there were so many types of missions. There were jobs for seal breaking, body guarding, monster slaying, scavenger hunting, research projects, babysitting, and more than Izumi could even count. Ur tapped her chin thoughtfully as Blaise climbed her way to Ice-Make wizard's shoulder for a better look.

"Since it's our first mission together, we should pick a job that's not too difficult, but not too easy either." Ur said thoughtfully.

"There are so many people looking for wizards these days." Blaise commented, sounding almost disapproving. "I guess people in Fiore are more dependent on magic than Seven. It'll take us hours to find a…"

"Found one!" Izumi shouted exuberantly, waving a random poster in her hand; Blaise face-faulted to the floor.

"Well, that was quick." Ur blinked surprisingly, taking the flyer from her partner. "Let's see what we got here. **Strong wizards wanted. Need assistance in converting a man out of lava to save a ten-thousand year-old chicken from a man with no skin who wants to take over the world. Experience in fighting underworld demons necessary. Reward: 10,000,000 jewels.**"

"That is an oddly specific request." Blaise sweat-dropped.

"Uh...Luna!" Ur called, thankfully catching the barmaid before she vanished in the crowd. "I think you posted another S-Rank mission on the Request Board again."

"Oh, I am so sorry about that." Luna laughed comically as she took the misplaced paper; Izumi was visibly disappointed. "I can be a little scatterbrained sometimes when I'm working behind the counter. My mother says I'd leave my own head if it wasn't screwed on."

"Well, try to be a little more careful next time." Ur warned amusingly. "If I wasn't here to stop her, I'll bet Izumi would have accepted that mission in a heartbeat."

"Oh, is this your first mission, Izumi?" Luna asked eagerly.

"Yeah, but there's so many missions to take." Izumi groaned, looking back at the multiple requests posted. "I want to get a good job with a good enough reward, but it'll take forever to found out which one's the right one for me."

"Hey, I know!" The giddy barmaid tossed her tray over her shoulder, drenching Pantherlily in liquor, and marched behind the counter. She bended over to the hidden compartment underneath and retrieved a heavy, leather-bound book that she dropped on the counter with a heavy thud. Izumi and Ur walked over to the counter as Luna started riffling through the pages. "I just remembered that there was a new request we just received the other day and haven't posted yet. I think it might be something you'd be interested in. Let's see…S…S…Street…SOLDIER...Sprite…oh, here we go!" She ripped out the page, handing it to the Black Dragon Slayer. "What do you think?"

"**Help wanted.**" Izumi read aloud. "**Requesting assistance in the recent thefts of valuable artifacts stolen by man named the Spirit King. Wizards must have experience in handling Celestial Spirits. Reward: 60,000 jewels and…one Golden Gate Key!**"

"Seriously?" Ur asked amazingly, trying for a better view of the flyer.

"You're looking for the Gold Gate Keys, right?" Luna smiled happily. "I remembered seeing the reward and thought it was right up your alley."

"Thanks, Luna!" Izumi said gratefully; her eyes never leaving the paper. "My mama collected all twelve Gold Gate Keys when she was alive and now I have a chance to get one of those keys! This is perfect!"

"Yeah, perfect for me."

The Black Dragon Slayer blinked in brief astonishment before she realized that the request paper had been snatched out of her hands. Narrowing her eyes dangerously, Izumi turned to glare at the thief…only to realize that he was a head taller than her. The man had an imposing stature with well-toned muscles to match, short, spiky jet-black hair and a pair of blood-red eyes. He wore an inky-black, sleeveless trench coat with the image of five connected gears circled by a silver dragon and the Fairy Tail mark in silver thread above it. He also wore a white shirt with three black claw marks on the front, a pair of jet-black jeans, a pair of black boots with metal studs, and black leather gloves. He had two silver earrings in each lobe and his entire right arm was covered silver armor.

Though many would have backed away at the mere sight of him, Izumi was either too stubborn or too stupid to back away.

"Hey, give that back!" Izumi demanded. "I saw that mission first, you jackass!"

"Too bad, squirt, cause I'm takin' this mission!" The newcomer shouted back.

"**This brutish looking man is Kane Redfox – a senior member of the New Generation Wizards. He is widely recognized as Fairy Tail's physically strongest member. He is a loner by choice and has poor record when working with others.**"

"Kane, give that back." Ur asked politely. "This is Izumi's first mission and it's really important to her. Besides, what use do you have with a Golden Gate Key? You don't even use Celestial Spirit Magic."

"Maybe not, but the payoff is too good to pass up." Kane remarked, purposely keeping the paper out of Izumi's reach. "And when I get that key, I can just auction it off to some other loser." A soft growl rattled in the back of Izumi's throat. "Besides, this job is way too tough for a couple of fresh meat wizards and an icy stripper."

"I am not a stripper!" Ur snapped heatedly.

"Ur, your pants." Luna said warningly.

"Damn it!" Ur screeched, trying to cover herself up.

"I'm takin' the job." Kane said, tossing the flyer to the barmaid before walking away. "Tell the master I'll be back in a week or less."

"Hold it, jackass!" The stubborn giant barely grasped the door handle before he was tugged back by his coat. Unsurprisingly, Izumi was pulling at a wad of his favorite jacket with her eyes narrowed dangerously, ignoring the warning signals from the other wizards. "I saw that mission first – it's mine!"

"Izumi, there are other jobs available." Ur said waved nervously. "There's no need to make a scene."

"The reward is a Golden Gate Key – one of my mama's keys." Izumi proclaimed seriously. "If this stuck-up bastard takes it, he'll just sell it off like it means nothing and there's a chance I'll never see that key again. This is about more than just getting my first job; it's about getting closer to my mama." She stepped up to the black-haired giant, trying to make herself look at threatening as possible. "And if you don't understand how important this is to me, then I'll just take that mission from you."

"Sounds like a challenge." Kane chuckled confidently. "Think you can take me, fresh meat."

"I'm gonna kick your ass." Izumi stated, cracking her knuckles in emphasis.

* * *

Relocating just outside the Guild Hall doors, Izumi was stretching her muscles in preparation for the beat down she was about to deliver to the smug bastard. Kane, on the other hand, just stood a good distance away from the smaller girl with his arms crossed, looking like he was already bored – that pissed off the Dragon Slayer even more. Their fight was already catching a lot of attention for both Fairy Tail and Magnolia's common residents. Though most of them had chosen to take cover in the safety of their homes and peeking through their windows. Ur was carrying Blaise on her shoulder standing with the rest of the New Generation wizards – not counting Mana for obvious reasons – looking more stressed than normal. And it wasn't because she couldn't find her pants.

"Izumi, please reconsider." Ur pleaded. "I know your tough, but you're not ready for Kane."

"Is he really that strong?" Blaise asked curiously.

"One punch from Kane is enough to break Master Erza's Adamantine Armor." Glace explained levelly, noticeably distancing himself from his ex-girlfriend. "Adamantine is the strongest substance in Fiore, so just bearing able to crack it would take a lot of strength."

"I doubt it's stronger than Adamantium or Vibranium." Blaise commented, earning strange stares from the clueless wizards. "Forget I said anything."

"You're a pretty big deal in Fairy Tail – people say your one of the best." Izumi said confidently, lacing her fingertips in black flames. "But that's only because they haven't seen me in action yet. I'm gonna kick your ass all the way to Seis and back."

"Talk is cheap…midget." Kane retorted, gesturing her to bring it.

That single comment developed a two throbbing veins in Izumi's forehead. One of the most annoying facts about the Black Dragon Slayer's life was that she was always shorter than most people, usually by a foot or a couple inches. Back in Seven, she was always the shortest in her class and even Fairy Tail, the only people that were smaller than her was Grace and Sora. At the mere mention of her height, the teenaged immigrant dashed ahead with her right hand ignited in black flames, reshaping the shadowy fire into the form of a claw.

"**Black Dragon Claw!**" Izumi howled, slashing her attack across Kane's face. But much to her surprise, the stubborn giant barely even flinched as the heat passed over his eyes. With a soft growl, Izumi pressed her hands into the concrete and swung her leg around with her foot coated in her signature black flames, taking the form of a beastly claw. "**Black Dragon Talon!**"

But even as her attack slammed into the base of Kane's neck and the flames seared against his skin, the black-haired wizard didn't budge in the slightest. He just stood there like an intimidating sentinel; his eyes displayed hints of amusement and annoyance. Izumi was slightly off-guard and almost wondered if she might be in over her head, but she quickly pushed the thought away. She was going to get her mother's Gate Key and no overgrown street punk was going to get the best of her. With her feet still hooked around Kane's neck, the tan-skinned foreigner pushed off the ground and used it for support as she swung around for a windmill kick across the man's face. The tactic seemed to catch the giant by surprise, managing to stagger him briefly. But as Izumi regained her proper footing on the ground, she realized that all she did was make him flinch – she didn't even have a scratch to show for it.

"What the hell is he?" Blaise said in awe.

"We're not exactly sure." Ur said honestly. "Truthfully, no one has ever seen him use his magic before, but there are a lot of people saying that Kane's magic deals with strengthening his muscle till they're as hard as steel. It kinda makes sense because his father is Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer. Most people call it his Iron Skin Magic."

"Iron Skin Magic?" Blaise repeated shockingly. "Then that means…Izumi doesn't stand a chance."

"Hey, don't count me out just yet!" Izumi snapped, overhearing the conversation. "He may have steel muscles or whatever, but all men have one weakness!" Without warning, the Black Dragon Slayer stepped up and rocketed her foot between Kane's legs. Izumi felt confident that she would reduce Kane to a sniveling baby with that trick, but her hopes were dashed with the muscular giant refused to even blink. "Oh, don't tell me it works down there, too."

"Is it my turn yet." Kane said in a bored tone. "Let's get this over with."

As the immigrant Dragon Slayer stepped back defensively, Kane clenched his right fist and swung around for the first punch. The guy may be big, but he was very slow and Izumi was able to raise her forearm fast enough to block the jab. That ended up being one of the most painful mistakes the blond teenager ever made. The moment the blow made contact with Izumi's forearm, a loud, sickening crack echoed down the street like thunder – everyone flinched and hissed. White-hot searing pain washed over Izumi's radius and ulna bones before it quickly spread down to her fingers and up to her shoulder blade. Never before had the Black Dragon Slayer experienced this type of pain before – not even when she somehow twisted her foot around during swimming. Izumi clenched her right arm painfully, fighting back the urge to cry as she slowly started to lose feeling in her limb.

"AGH! F*CK!" Izumi screeched in bloody murder, dropping to her knees and curling close to her broken appendage. "DAMMIT, THAT HURTS! AGH! WHAT THE HELL?"

"Izumi!" Ur and Blaise cried fearfully, quickly lunching themselves to their friend's side. While the Exceed crawled over to investigate the extent of the damage, Ur stood up and glared at Kane severally. "What the hell is wrong with you, Kane? You didn't have to go that far!"

"If she can't handle it, she should have stay out of it." Kane remarked.

"She just a fifteen year–old girl that just moved to this country!" Ur hissed; Kane didn't back off. "She doesn't know any better!"

"And now she's mopping on the ground like a little baby." Kane commented sadistically, smirking at the injured girl on the ground. "What's the matter, midget? Gonna go home and cry to your mommy?"

"She won't need to." Kane and Ur blinked surprisingly, turning around to find Marina shooting them a glare that could easily rival Erza's "What happened here? Why is Izumi on the ground?" She jabbed a finger into Kane's chest. "Did you have something to do with this?"

"Maybe." Kane snorted. "What's it to…"

The dark-haired giant never had the chance to finish before Marina promptly slapped him across the face, showing a remarkable amount of strength and she sent Kane flying. The Fairy Tail wizards quickly ducked out of the way before Kane plowed through the Guild wall and smashed through a row of wooden tables before he smacked face first into the opposite side. Everyone in guild could feel their jaws drop to the floor – the toughest guy in all of Fairy Tail was knocked out with a single slap. Izumi, who had been observing the interaction between her guardian and Kane, shivered frightfully and embraced her Exceed partner protectively. The lavender feline herself was also trembling as she held Izumi closer – both of their eyes locked on Marina's still raised left hand.

"Was that…what I think it was?" Izumi squeaked.

"I think it was." Blaise answered softly. "The legendary left hand."

"What is going on here?" And to make matters worse, Master Erza shows up just in time to witness the destruction of her precious Guild Hall…again. "What happened? Why is everyone standing around? Why is there a hole in the wall? Why is Izumi lying on the ground? What happened with Kane? And where is my cheesecake?" Luna appeared with her usual sunny expression, delivering the aforementioned desert to her master. "Thank you. Now, back to first question."

"I can explain, Master Erza." Ur answered nervously. "You see, Izumi and I found this really great job we wanted, but Kane wanted the same job. Izumi and Kane started arguing until they broke out in a fight. Kane broke Izumi's arm, but then Marina…slapped him unconscious. And…that's where you show up."

"I see." Erza said thoughtfully, tapping her chin with a fork. "Since Wendy is pregnant, we can ask her to stress herself by healing these idiots. And since Porlyusica has recently…departed…we'll have to take them to the hospital to fix their injuries."

"What about the mission?" Izumi asked weakly.

"Since you two can seem to get along…" Erza said seriously. "Then you two will have to learn by work together. You are under strict orders from the Guild Master to participate as a team and both accept the mission."

"NO WAY!" Izumi and Kane, who conveniently awakened from his coma, shouted outrageously.

"I can't work with this jackass!" Izumi refused.

"I don't do teams!" Kane snapped.

"Do you have a problem with my judgment?" Erza whispered dangerously.

"N-No, ma'am." Kane chuckled nervously, wrapping his arm around the Dragon Slayer's shoulder. "We'll get along swell. Right, buddy."

"Aye, sir!" Izumi answered loudly.

"A mission? Not happening!" Marina said authoritatively. "You just broke to of your bones and you think I'm just gonna let you leave Magnolia on your own? That is not happening, Izumi A. Dragneel!" She grabbed Izumi's unbroken arm. "We are going to the doctor to get you checked out and you are staying in your room until you are healed!"

"But Marina, I have to go!" Izumi refused, pulling her arm out of the woman's grip. "This mission is important to me!"

"What could be more important that you own health?" Marina questioned dangerously.

"The reward is one of mama's keys." Izumi answered determined; Marina's expression softened. "I know you're just trying to look out for me, but this is the chance for me to learn about my mama. If I can figure out how the keys work, maybe the spirits could tell me more about her." She took her guardian's hand and gently squeezed it. "I will always be grateful to you for all that you've done for me, but I want to learn more about my parents. You always tell me that I'll have to grow up one day and make my own choices, so now I making the choice to take this job. Please…can I go, Marina?"

The blue-haired woman stared at the teenaged immigrant. It was hard for Marina to believe that the little girl that she used to sing to sleep was now growing up and becoming more independent. And not only that, she was growing up to be the spitting image of her own mother, albeit with a darker shade of skin. Marina never once considered herself a replacement for Lucy, but that didn't stop her from showing her motherly affection for the child. So with a deep sigh, the blue-haired woman bended down until she was level with the Dragon Slayer.

"All right, you can go." Marina nodded, quickly cutting the girl off before she had a chance to cheer. "But, you are going directly to the doctor first to get that arm of your checked out first and you have to promise me that you won't go overboard."

"How long have you known her?" Blaise said jokingly.

"I promise, Marina." Izumi agreed, hugging her guardian happily.

While the pair was caught in their affectionate embrace, two women inside the Guild Hall were watching them through the hole that Kane made upon his unexpected entrance.

"That woman…Juvia feels that she has seen her before." Juvia commented suspiciously.

"You're not the only one." Cana slurred, managing to sober up enough to maintain her level of thought. "Izumi said that Marina girl and Lucy were pretty close friends, but I've never seen her around the guild before and I don't think they've been on missions together. I don't think even Levy has mentioned her before and she and Lucy were best friends. But…there's just something familiar about her."

"Juvia doesn't know what it is…" Juvia murmured, watching Marina lead her ward to the hospital. "But Juvia doesn't trust her."

* * *

**Please, read and review.**

**Next time: Cold Steal**

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Marina  
**Age: **Unknown  
**Magic: **Water Magic  
**Likes: **Television drama, dealing punishments, Izumi (out of motherly instinct)  
**Dislikes: **Being interrupted, loud noises, secrets, anyone who hurts her "baby girl"  
**Relatives: **Izumi, Blaise (Legal Wards)  
**Description: **Much of Marina's past remains unknown, but she claims to have been close friends with Lucy Heartfilia since they were younger. Shortly following the tragic deaths of Dragneel family, Marina took legal custody of their daughter, Izumi, under the request of Lucy and left for Seven until Izumi was old enough to return to Fiore. Strangely enough, Marina tries to keep her distance from the Fairy Tail Guild for unknown reasons.


	7. 7 Cold Steal

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

**Note: My One-or-None Policy is still in effect. That means that unless there is at least one review for this and future chapters posted, all stories will come to a definite halt. That includes Naruto: Jinchuriki Chronicles and Birds or Prey.**

**Note 2: Low quality work**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Cold Steal**

Traveling by train was generally the best way to get from place to place in Fiore and occasionally a relaxing venture. Through the windows, one could see the endless pasture of the countryside flying by and snowcapped mountains painted into the background. But for this special occasion, one would be lucky – or unlucky in this scenario – to spot the rare chunks of a weak stomached Dragon Slayer.

The newly formed Team XL of Fairy Tail found a seat close to the front of the passengers car with Izumi Dragneel flailing out the window in an attempt to escape the moving deathtrap. Ur sweat dropped as she maintained a grip on the Dragon Slayer's jacket, shooting a sheepish smile to other passengers staring at them strangely. When you're a member of Fairy Tail, you get used to this sort of attention. In the opposite seat, Blaise was diligently ignoring her partner's antics, instead choosing to focus on the five pound flounder on the silver platter in her lap. Ur was still clueless on how the Exceed managed to convince the conductor to personally serve a five-star meal, but she wasn't complaining. And finally, the newest and most unwilling member was Kane Redfox, Fairy Tail's strongest wizard and the reason Izumi's right arm was presently in a cast.

The iron giant rested his head in his palm, staring out to the fleeting pasture with his usual expression of irritation – Ur can't remember the last time he smiled. He must have been born with that scowl. As the half-naked Ice-Make wizard managed her best to keep Izumi from falling out, she took the time to better study the mountain of muscle – her father always says she's overly cautious. The most that Ur knew about Kane was that he was the tallest of the New Generation wizards and was the physically strongest of everyone in Fairy Tail. That's pretty much the length of what everyone knew. No one knows his type of magic and he has only accepted solo jobs in the last four years, preventing everyone from knowing. That was a little too suspicious for Ur's taste.

Ur's examination must have been more obvious than she thought because Kane noticed her out of his peripheral vision and glowered at the shirtless wonder.

"What are you looking at, stripper?" Kane hissed.

"No need to be rude." Ur remarked, giving Izumi a final tug and placing the Dragon Slayer's head into her lap. Wendy says it helps with Izumi's father so she expected the same thing. "I was just wondering how you were feeling. I mean, this is the first time you've ever worked on a team."

"Yeah, some team." Kane scoffed. "A frozen exhibitionist, a wingless cat, and a newbie that can't even handle a train ride."

"Gonna…kick…your…ugh…" Izumi managed to slur queasily.

"Well, it's not all bad." Ur chuckled uncomfortably, petting the poor blond's head. "Motion sickness is a good sign that she is a super strong and perfectly healthy Dragon Slayer. Wendy-Sama and even your own dad didn't get motion sickness until they were super strong like Natsu-Sama and Laxus-Sama."

"What's with the '-sama' stuff" Kane sweatdropped.

"Hey…" Izumi moaned weakly; her face now a yellowish-green. "How come…you're not...getting…sick? Your…dad's a…Dragon…Slayer…right? So…shouldn't…you…Ugh! I'm gonna die!"

"Where'd you get the idea that I was a Dragon Slayer?" Kane questioned with his arms crossed.

"So you're not Fairy Tail's fifth Dragon Slayer?" Blaise asked interestingly.

"Hell no." Kane jeered, leaning back into his seat. "Everyone knows the fifth Dragon Slayer is…."

"Anyway!" Ur interrupted loudly; Izumi pushed back the urge to vomit. "Before we get to Freesia Town, we need to set some ground rules. Fairy Tail is famous for two things: amazing magically ability…and an unparalleled sense of destruction. Since our employer is paying a hugereward for our help, we'll have to make sure that we keep the damage to a minimum or he'll deduct in from our pay."

"You do know this is Izumi we're talking about, right?" Blaise commented sarcastically; the Dragon Slayer would glare if she wasn't holding back a flood of bile. "I'm pretty sure Izumi's middle name stands for annihilation…actually, I don't know what he middle name is and I've known her for eight years. Odd."

"Back to the topic at hand." Ur sweatdropped. "We're gonna have to make a good impression with this guy, so…" All of a sudden, Kane hopped up from his seat and started walking towards the back of the car. "H-Hey, where do you think you're going? I'm not done talking yet!"

"Your voice gives me a headache." Kane commented; the throbbing vein was visible Ur's skull. The iron giant threw open the door, stepping out into the section between cars. "If you need me, I'll be on the roof. And even if you need me, I'm not helpin'."

"Why the roof?" Blaise raised her brow thoughtfully.

"What do you think?" Kane sneered before slamming the door shut.

"Honestly…" Ur sighed in aggravation. "Sometimes, that guy can be a little strange."

"Says the girl that lost her pants." Blaise commented.

"CRAP!" Ur shrieked, once again clad in stripped undergarments.

* * *

While the dysfunctional team tried sorting through their problems, activity was taking place engineer room. The man conducting the train's activities was going about his final preparations as they were closing in on the final stretch towards Freesia Town. As he was checking the engine's temperature, the door behind him suddenly slammed open. Turning around, the unfortunate engineer came face-to-face with four silver polished revolvers aimed towards his head – the urge to throw his hands and whimper like a school girl was rather instinctive. The assailants wore similar clothing consisting of a particular theme: light-brown ponchos with multicolored markings, brown-leather belts with handgun holsters, and apple-red bandannas covering their faces. Yeah…typical bandit attire.

"Sorry 'bout bargin' in on your business, mate." A smooth, accented voice intruded. "But as you can see, we also have business with the people about this train, aight."

The last of the gang of bandits – most likely their leader – walked into the room with a spring in his step and a wheat stalk in his teeth. He was a particularly good-looking gentleman with wave of lengthy, sunny-blond hair tied into a short ponytail. His attire was typical to that of a stereotypical western cowboy: a plain-white dress shirt with black vest overtop, a pair of tan jeans covered by pitch-black chaps, leather-brown boots with silver spurs, a black-leather belt with a large golden bull buckle, and a typical western hat. The gang leader didn't seem to sport any weapons in comparison to his comrades, but there was probably a logical explanation. The oddly dressed man approached the trembling engineering, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Hey, don't get your grundies in a twist, mate." The cowboy leader chuckled playfully. "We ain't gonna hurt ya at all. We're just gonna make sure you don't go calling any diggers and cause us a load o' trouble, savvy?" He turned to address one of his henchmen. "Tie this wanker up so he don't do anything stupid." Two of his followers took the engineer away on his orders. "Now then, mates, let's go introduce ourselves."

* * *

Back in the passenger cars, the Dragon Slayer of Team XL was left face-down in the seat cushions after Ur is moved herself to Kane's empty seat. After Izumi threatened to heave five times in the last ten minutes, the Ice-Make wizard no longer felt safe in the presence of her best friend.

"Ugh…I'm dying…" Izumi moaned.

"Aren't you being a little dramatic?" Blaise replied dryly.

"Too bad Wendy isn't here." Ur sighed disappointedly. "She could have cast Troia on Izumi to get rid of that annoying motion sickness."

"You dropped the '-Sama' so casually." Blaise commented deadpanned.

The wizard and Exceed tensed up when Izumi's looked ready to upchuck the remains of her early lunch, but she thankfully managed to swallow in down – she only looked worse afterwards. If Ur had guessed right, they should have left the station in Magnolia around two hours ago, which meant they only had half-an-hour until they reached Freesia. As long as nothing exciting or troublesome happened until then, they may be lucky enough to get through the trip puke free...you pretty much know what happens next. Not even ten second had passed before the doors to the passenger car flew open and the horribly fashioned bandits rushed into the coach with pistol loaded. The intrusion of the oddly dressed outlaws caused a quick rush of murmurs and tension between the travelers – the matter was quickly resolved with a warning shot to the ceiling.

"All right, nobody move!" One of the henchmen commanded. "This here's a robbery! If anyone tries something funny, they'll get a bullet between the eyes!"

"A train robbery?" Ur commented in a bored manner. "Seriously? What kinda twelfth-rate criminals rob a train these days?"

"This reminds me of those old Western movies Izumi and I used to make fun of back in Seven." Blaise said unimpressed, ruffling through the newspaper she pulled out from hammer space. "All that's missing is a couple of horses, a few tumbleweeds, and Clint Eastwood." She looked up from the paper just as the bandit leader walked in. "Oh, there he is."

"G'day, mates!" The leader exclaimed excitedly. "My name is Ripper and I will be your conductor this evening. As you may have already guessed, we've taken over this here train and holdin' y'all hostage. As long as y'all don't do anything stupid, we might get out of this in one piece. And hey, at least y'all have a nice little story to tell your sprogs."

"You can't do this to us." One brave – or incredibly stupid – passenger stated.

The bandit leader known as Ripper took notice of the rebellious passenger, making a mental note of the skinny man's trembling – he was all bark, no bite. The Western clothed thief could have just left him off with a warning, but it didn't want to give the other passengers the idea that it was ok to talk back to him. Watching the scene from the opposite end of the carriage, Ur observed the brief flash of orange light radiating around Ripper's feet. Growing up with two wizard parents and an…eccentric guild like Fairy Tail, Ur recognized a magic circle when she saw one. This guy wasn't an ordinary bandit – he was a wizard.

Ripper jumped from his position, where he surprisingly managed to plant his feet to the ceiling before rebounding to the right side window. Ur was able to identify his spell: Bounce Magic, the ability cling and recoil against any surface while increasing one's momentum for an extra boost of strength. Spring off the surface of the window, Ripper shuttled across the carriage and pressed his feet forward to collide with the rebellious passenger's chest. The force of the impact not only threw the victim out of his seat, but smashed him through the reinforced window and sent him tumbling into the grassy plain as they passed by.

"Let that be a lesson to ya drangos." Ripper said confidently. "Ripper Roo always gets what he wants, savvy?"

"Isn't Ripper Roo the name of a boss in that old video game?" Blaise sweatdropped. "You know, the one about the orange badger that liked to spin around a lot and fought against the scientist with the abnormally large head."

"I thought…it was a…marsupial." Izumi moaned.

"Seven certainly has an…interesting culture." Ur commented with uncertainty.

"Hey, boss, check this out!" The wizards and Exceed looked up to find one of the henchmen holding them at gunpoint. "I think got ourselves a stripper on board! Go on, give us a little dance, stripper!"

"For the last time, I'm not a stripper!" Ur yelled angrily. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

"Gee, I wonder why." Blaise mumbled sarcastically.

"It's not every day ya see a Sheila in her knickers." Ripper grinned in a perverted manner. "If she's not a stripper, she must be one o' them exhibitionist types – now that just makes her even hotter."

"Then why don't I cool things down?" Ur said in a challenging manner.

Ur's reflexes were swift to snatch the nearest henchman by the wrist and force it around his back, disabling the use of his weapon. The half-naked wizard then summoned her own magic circle, sending the temperature in the carriage freefalling at an alarming rate. A thick layer of frost was formed around Ur's hands and stretched across the arms before spreading to the rest of the body. In a matter of seconds, the passenger car had its own bandit ice sculpture. As the Ice-Make Wizard kicked the frozen outlaw into an open seat, the other henchmen staggered back fretfully with the firearms aimed at the wizard. In contrast to his spineless followers, Ripper looked even more excited and even spotted the blue Fairy Tail stamp on her left breast. Although, his attention was more driven to something a little…lower.

"Hey, hey, check it out, mates!" Ripper exclaimed exuberantly. "We got ourselves a wizard on board – A Fairy Tail wizard at that. Hmm…dark hair, Ice Molding Magic, a tendency to strip – still very hot by the way. You wouldn't happen to be related to Gray Fullbuster, would ya?" The half-naked wizard remained mute. "Ooh, so cold; I like that. Boys, be good cobbers and teach this Sheila a lesson."

"But she's a wizard, boss." One of the henchmen proclaimed.

"You bunch of spineless drongos." Ripper groaned loudly. "There's four of us and only one of her."

Not long after it is said, one of the farthest henchmen vanished in a blur of lavender and white. A sudden thud of pounding metal drew the passenger's attention to the back of the carriage, where the missing henchman was rendered unconscious when his skull slammed into the wall. The claw holding the minion's cranium belonged to a royal-purple feline with a slender human figure and piercing-gold eyes. Her attire consisted of a pair of form-fitting, white pants, a plain-white matching shirt with a lavender coat over top, and a red opal pendant around her neck. It had been along since she had seen this form, but Ur distinctly remembered Blaise's Battle Mode. The speedy feline released his grip on the poor man's throbbing head, cracking her knuckles in an intimidating fashion.

"You might wanna count again." Blaise said smoothly. "Because with me makes two."

"And with me makes three!" Izumi shouted as she jumped up energetically. However, this only made her motion sickness worse and she flopped back down to her seat, looking a nasty shade of green. "On second thought, let's just leave it at two."

"Strewth! Now this is the kinda excitement I've been ichin' for!" Ripper exclaimed enthusiastically, propping himself on top of the seats. "Boys, let's show these Sheilas how we party."

"Sorry, you've been cancelled." Ur retorted, pounding her fist into her open palm. The cold air in the carriage centered around the half-naked wizard and started forming misty curtains behind her forearms. "**Ice-Make: Wing Attack!**"

The Ice-Make Slayer jumped leaped to the opposite side of the carriage, twirling her arms in a spiral motion. The men cosplaying as bandits sensed the immediate danger of the wizard and pulled their pistols on the half-naked woman. But because of their internal panic, most of their shots were wild and forced many of the passengers to dodge stray bullets – Izumi was too sick to notice four of her hairs missing. The few shots that were on target came in contact with the spiraling mist, instantaneously coated in a thick layer of solid ice before shattering to pieces on the floor. Ur swept between the two henchmen and swung her frost coat arms around the cover them in the misty curtains, effectively transforming them into living ice sculptures before they could react.

Ripper facepalmed – where does he find these losers? In only two minutes, three of his goons were frozen solid and one of them was knocked unconscious by an overgrown housecat. He knew he should have gone to someone like the Southern Wolves or that new mercenary group, Devil Tail. At least they would have lasted more than three seconds. But while the cosplaying cowboy was caught in his mental rant, Blaise had taken this opportunity to dash across the carriage and stop directly behind the bandit leader. The Battle Mode Exceed retracted her claws and made a swipe for Ripper's head, but the cowboy wizard – that is weird to say – was already aware of her intentions. In the brief moment between Blaise's landing and her swipe, Ripper summoned the magic circle to his feet and bounced to the ceiling before he became the Exceed's chew toy.

The thieving wizard jump upward and managed a successfully flip despite the limited space before kicking his heels against the train ceiling. He rebound off the surface and attempted to tackle Blaise, but the Exceed's enhanced speed allowed her to dodge the assault gracefully. Despite having missed his target, Ripper rebound off the floor with his hands and propelled himself to the opposite wall before bouncing himself against across the carriage. After jumping from four different places, confusing most of the passenger's in the process, Ripper managed drop to Blaise's left side and deliver a heavy kick to the Exceed's ribcage. The lavender feline was knocked away to the other end of the carriage, but was able to catch herself in midair and flip back to land on her feet. Blaise scolded herself – how could she have been so foolish as to allow herself to be hit by this clown? One thing was certain: it wouldn't happen again.

As Ur watched the bouncing wizard and the speedy Exceed go head to head – cause many of the passengers to duck their head in panic – the Ice-Make wizard prepared herself for her next attack. Attacking Ripper directly would be impossible because he would just bounce away, so she needed to use a wide-range attack to catch him. Luckily, she just happened to have one. Ur slammed her fist into her open palm, bringing back a familiar chill to the cabin.

"Blaise, get out of the way! I got him!" Ur proclaimed. The Exceed merely nodded and reverted back to her standard form, dropping behind one of the seats. With Blaise out of the way, Ur used her hands to form a funnel around her mouth. "**Ice-Make: Roar!**"

The chilly wizard exhaled a massive cloud of crystal mist that, much like the Wing Attack, petrified anything it touched in a thick layer of frost. Because of the restricted spacing, Ripper wouldn't have the opportunity to dodge the attack. But instead of trying to run away, the cowboy wizard – still weird to say – leaped to the right side of the passenger car before jumping to the ceiling then to left side and finishing back on the floor again. Ripper repeated this motion several times, moving faster with each repetition. When the freezing mist finally passed over, the Ice-Make: Roar had managed to freeze everything in the carriage _**except **_Ripper and the four spaces he landed in.

"What the?" Ur exclaimed shockingly. "What happened? Why didn't he freeze?"

"By moving fast enough, you can increase your own body heat." Blaise explained knowledgably; ignoring the shiver running down her spine. "Clearly, he used his Bounce Magic to jump from point to point, but also to increase his speed and therefore prevent him from freezing over. I didn't really expect him to that."

"Don't play me down as a drongo, mate!" Ripper cackled playfully, continuing his bouncing circle around the car. "How'd ya think I managed to pull off this little caper? I'm the best at what I do, mate!"

"I don't feel so good…" Izumi moaned; her cheeks puffed out with sickness. "I think I'm gonna…"

And with that, Izumi proceeded to expel her lunch all over the train floor. Ur stared at her best friend and tried to turn her head from the disgusting scene, but it was like watching a train wreck – you can't look away. This was the opportunity Ripper had been waiting for. The bouncing wizard skipped off the ceiling tiles and dive-bombed for the half-naked Fairy, pressed his feet against her back and throwing her forward by several feet. Blaise glowered at the cosplay freak and attempted to enter her Battle Mode one more, but Ripper was already one step ahead of her. The bandit leader used his bounce magic to flip backwards and land directly on top of the poor Exceed, effectively squashing her and her magic.

"Ya Sheilas are aight." Ripper grinned in a superior manner. "But ya can't get the best of Ripper Roo."

"I swear, the name of that game is on the tip of my tongue." Blaise commented offhandedly. "Smash something…Bash something…Rash something...I know it was a marsupial."

"Oy, I'm talkin' here!" Ripper snapped.

"Don't think you're going to win." Ur said seriously, motioning her hands into the regular position. "I'm gonna freeze you into the next ice age."

"Too slow, mate." Ripper smirked.

His magic circle appeared around his feet once more and the cowboy wizard – seriously, that is weird to say – bounced himself across the train car. Ur groaned internally; she still wasn't up to the same speed as her father and that would cost her in this match. She still needed a few second to prepare her attack and Ripper was already prepared to end this thing. Just when it looked like Ur was defeated, Ripper made the ultimate mistake…of stepping in Izumi's vomit. Yes, the Black Dragon Slayer's purged lunch saved the day as Ripper Roo unconsciously slipped and landed on his back with a sickening _**squelch**_. Many of the passengers groan and looked away with disgusted looks on their faces – probably not one of the pleasing sights on the train.

"Ew…!" Ripper said squeamishly, quickly dropping his exotic accent. "That is so gross! Like mean like, totally nasty. It's all over my clothes and my hair – look at my hair! I think I broke a nail, too!"

"Wow…" Blaise sweatdropped. "Not only is his accent fake, but pretty much everything is, too."

Ur stared at the…feminine version of the bouncing wizard in a dumbfounded state before she realized that her magic circle had been completed. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Ur pulled back her fist and coated the entire thing from her fingers to her elbows in a thick layer of ice.

"**Ice-Make: Iron Fist!**" Ur screamed.

Ripper offered little to no resistance through his feminine rant, leaving him – or maybe it would be appropriate to say her - open for a crushing blow directly to the face. The cosplaying wizard was through back to the ground at a distance, sliding along the frozen floor until his back connected with the carriage door. Ripper moaned pathetically, looking close to the verge of crying, while Ur smirking at him insultingly with Blaise sitting proudly on her shoulder.

"The best at what you do, huh?" Blaise said mockingly. "I guess the best at what you do is playing dress up, which, by the way, you are way too old to be doing."

"Just because you look the part…" Ur scoffed lightly. "Doesn't mean you have what it takes to be a real wizard. Maybe you should get a real job as a salon or maybe a shoe store. I bet you'd be the top employee."

"S-Shut up." Ripper whined pathetically. "I am too a real wizard. And if you don't take that back, I'm gonna…I'm gonna…"

"OY!" The wizards nearly jumped out of their skin when Kane slammed open the door. "What the hell is going on down here? I'm gone for twenty minutes and you guys are already getting into trouble! How the hell am I supposed to get any sleep with you dumbasses making such a racket."

That's right – Kane was on the train, too. In all the excitement, Ur and Blaise had forgotten that their strongest man was sleeping somewhere on the roof of the train. The real question was how he hadn't noticed anything going on until now; one of the henchmen had shot a bullet through the ceiling earlier. But while the Ice-Make wizard and Exceed were distracted by their unwilling partner, Ripper saw this as an opportunity he couldn't pass up. Using the power of his Bounce Magic once more, Ripper flipped over Kane and landed directly on his back, wrapping his arm around the giant's throat. The feminine bandit quickly reached into his vest and withdrew a shining revolver, pointing the barrel directly at Kane's skull.

"All right, ya little gits, listen up!" Ripper demanded, confidently donning his exotic accent once more. "You're gonna surrender nice and quietly or I'll blow your mate's brains out."

"Go ahead." Ur replied nonchalantly.

"WHAT?" Ripper shrieked

"WHAT?" Blaise repeated.

"Ugh…" Izumi moaned.

"Go ahead, kill the son of a bitch." Ur smiled devilishly. "I don't like him and he sure as hell doesn't like me." She gained a demonic look in her eyes. "Go on, what are you waiting for? Shoot him! Go on, shoot!"

This girl was serious – she actually wanted him to blow the guys freakin' brains out. With each passing second, Ur took one step closer with her hands motioning to form her magic circle while Kane remained calm and collected as usual. It was like he had no concern for his own life. Ripper was literally sweating bullet – a ironic pun – between the half-naked wizard threatening to permafrost him and the iron giant just staring at his casually out of the corner of his eye. These Fairy Tail wizards were insane. The pressure of just being in the same room as these psychopaths was enough to drive anyone over the edge. And so, with a fretful cry, he pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed in the carriage and many of the passengers covered their eyes and ears. Ur, on the other hand was grinning smugly.

Ripper huffing loudly – not fully comprehending what he had just done – until the sound of clattering metal reach his ears. He looked down and spotted the source of the noise: an unloaded bullet shell with a tip dented inwards. It was only a moment before he realized that the bullet was the one he used to shoot Kane and shakily looked back to the iron giant. Much to his shock and terror, Kane took a bullet directly to the head and the projectile didn't even penetrate his skin. At this point, the only though running through his mind was that Fairy Tail was full of monsters. Finally growing tired of the monkey of his back, Kane reached over his shoulder grasped Ripper by the collar, dangling him several feet off the floor.

"W-W-What are you?" Ripper stammered.

"Isn't it obvious." Kane said coolly, reeling back his clenched fist. "I'm a Fairy Tail wizard."

The Iron fist master showed no mercy as he drilled his knuckles directly into the faker's mouth, literally knocking his teeth out. Ur and many of the passengers flinched with each of the poor man's molars clatter on the floor. Kane nonchalantly dropped Ripper on the floor, leaving whimpering with bleeding gums.

"Isn't that going a little overboard?" Ur grimaced.

"Like you're one to talk." Kane retorted.

The muscular wizard pointed over Ur's shoulder, referring to the use of her magic. Despite her best attempts to restrain her powers, the half-naked wizard had still managed to cover three-quarters of the passenger car in ice – passengers and all.

"Oops." Ur chuckled shyly.

* * *

After spending a hour roping all the bandits and thawing out their fellow travelers, the Fairy Tail group had finally reached the station in Freesia Town. The engineer had immediately contacted the Rune Knights after he was freed and the armored soldiers were there waiting for them when the train finally reached it stop. Ur, Kane, and Blaise were watching the Rune Knights carry off Ripper's henchmen to be taken away for imprisonment while Ripper himself took a slight detour to the dentist's office – Kane feign ignorance over the leader's injured state.

"Well, that was an interesting way to start a mission." Blaise commented blandly.

"Well, the good news is…" Ur smiled happily. "We saved the train, Ripper and his goons are going to jail, and best of all…" She motioned to the pair of black jeans she was presently wearing. "I finally found my pants!"

"What about your shirt?" Blaise questioned.

"I think I left it back home." Ur said thoughtfully; Blaise sweatdropped.

"I'm getting tired crap already." Kane grunted, throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder. "I just want to get this damn mission over with so I don't have to look at you a second longer."

"Pleasant as always." Ur remarked sarcastically.

"Hmm…" Blaise hummed as she followed the humans. "Why do I get the feeling we forgot something?"

* * *

Meanwhile, as the train was making its return trip to Magnolia station, Izumi was flailing out the window for dear life.

"HELP MEEEEEEE!" Izumi screamed tearfully.

* * *

**Please, read and review.**

**Next Time: Flight of the Spirit King**

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Kane Redfox**  
Age: **18**  
Magic: ***Unknown*  
**Likes: **Solitude, training, contests, being number one, secretly reading  
**Dislikes: **Losing, working on a team, pointless talking, perky people, spicy foods**  
Relatives: **Gajeel Redfox (Father), Levy McGarden (Mother)  
**Description: **For as long as anyone can remember, Kane has always strived to become stronger, mostly pushing himself through grueling training on a daily basis. His years of hard work have made Kane the physically strongest member of Fairy Tail and earned him the title of Kane the Iron Fist. Oddly enough, Kane has never displayed his magical abilities in public, choosing to rely on his fists and only accepts solo missions.


	8. 8 Flight of the Spirit King

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

**Note: My One-or-None Policy is still in effect. That means that unless there is at least one review for this and future chapters posted, all stories will come to a definite halt. That includes Naruto: Jinchuriki Chronicles and Birds or Prey.**

**Note #2: **I will only be accepting real reviews from now on. No "Awesome story" or one word reviews.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: Flight of the Spirit King**

_**-32 Hours Ago-**_

Night had fallen over Freesia Town for another day – the streets grown eerily silent and engulfed in the darkness of the evening. Freesia was well-known as the home of the wealthiest men and women in all of Fiore; a fact most of the snobbish residents liked to boast. On normal days, one would feel safe knowing they were protected by the greatest security force money could buy. But that was all abolished by the arrival of the Spirit King. It had only been four days since his mysterious arrival and he had managed to pilfer the riches of four of the wealthiest people in the town. And his next target was up for grabs.

In the west wing of an eccentric businessman's lengthy manor was a small bell made from the purest diamond resting on a soft cushion in a tightly locked display case. The item may be small, but any true connoisseur could see that it was well worth ten billion jewels – that more than what Erza Scarlet makes in a year. But besides the case, protecting the expensive object was a wide array of security Lacrima and two dozen soldiers and hounds straight from Fiore's military; this guy had some serious cash. The security team had been on duty 24-7 and while many remained firm to their obligation, many of them were becoming quite exasperated.

"How long are we gonna keep standing here?" One of the soldiers yawned loudly.

"No slacking off, rookie." A senior soldier reprimanded. "We are bound by our contract to Yukata-Sama to protect and serve when necessary. If he wishes for us to safeguard his treasure, than we shall. Besides, we are getting paid five hundred thousand jewels a night, so you have no reason to complain."

"But this is so boring." The junior guard groaned. "Nothing exciting ever happens when we're on duty. How do we even know this Spirit King – if he even exists – is gonna…?"

The inexperienced rookie was denied a chance to complete his sentence as he was blasted across the room and buried in a mound of…sand? Yes, believe it or not, there was a giant pile of desert sand in the middle of a rich man's stately manor. While two men rushed to dig their comrade out of sand, the rest of the military soldier focused on their attention towards the darkened entrance of the room – a man was chuckling amusingly in the abyss. The men readied their weapons as the intruder nonchalantly stepped into the chamber, laughing either from the sand attack or the pathetic appearance of the warriors.

The man who had come to be known as Spirit King had no distinguishing features, which was probably why he had managed to elude capture for this long. His short, black hair was kempt and straight, his build was that of an average adult, and his overall essence would lull those into a false sense of security. His attire was a lightly pressed tuxedo with a blood-red necktie, a pair of black-polished shoes, pristine white gloves, a formal top hat, and a blank face mask to cover his expression.

"So you're the new security the old man paid off." The Spirit King said entertainingly. "Well, I was hoping for a bit more, but maybe you'll do better than the group at old lady Fuyu's places. Those dumbasses didn't even last a minute – what else would you expected from such a loser guild like the Southern Wolves."

"Enough of this!" The senior soldier commanded. "Men, attack!"

With their cries for battle, the military men and beasts of Fiore's grand army charged headlong for the mask assailant. How foolish they were to challenge him, thought the Spirit King. With a confident smirk hidden under his mask, the well-dressed criminal slowly reached into his left sleeve and drew out his weapon.

Everything vanished in a flash of gold.

* * *

_**-Present Day-**_

"Damn, they did a number on this place." Kane remarked.

Fairy Tail's newly instated Team XL, consisting of Izumi Dragneel, Blaise, Ur Fullbuster, and Kane Redfox, arrived in Freesia Town little over an hour ago after the debacle on the train. The poor motion sick Dragon Slayer had to ride the train twice because of her forgetful teammates. The group of teenage wizards had been passing by on the way to their employer when they noticed Fiore's military forming a barricade around one of the citizen's mansions. Or what's left of his mansion at least. Stopping just short of the barricade established by the military, Izumi and her friends gazed at the crushed remains of what was certainty a wealthy estate. There was no debris, no rubble, no signs of any destruction or explosion as one would expect – it looked like it had been flattened to a pancake. Some of the military soldiers who were gifted with magic were attempting to undo whatever spell was keeping the manor in such a compressed state, nothing appeared to be working. There was some powerful magic at work.

"Any ideas about what happened here?" Blaise asked the senior wizards.

"My best would be flattening magic." Ur said thoughtfully. "Either that or a powerful form of gravity magic. But you'd have to be very advanced and precise to leave gravity magic in one place for an extended period of time and the only person I can think of is Bluenote Stinger. But he's in jail, so he's not an option."

"That and Bluenote isn't a common thief." Kane grumbled. "Whoever this guy is, he's really tough." The dark-haired giant grinned devilishly, pounding his fist into his hand. "I'm getting excited just thinking about it."

"Get in line, big guy." Izumi beamed eagerly with her hand coated in black flames. "I want first crack at him."

"Should we be worried?" Blaise whispered to Ur, pointing to the two wizards laughing evilly.

"No, I think this is normal for them." Ur commented amusingly. She clapped her hands loudly, trying to bring back the attention of her…wicked teammates. "Ok, let's come back to Earthland for a moment. Before we can do anything, we need to talk to our client, Mr. Luke Vilpillinen."

"That's a mouthful." Izumi commented.

"Did someone say my name?"

Everyone – minus the stoic Kane – was startled by the silent and sudden appearance of their client that Blaise jumped into Izumi's arms, Izumi jumped into Ur's arms, and Ur jumped into Kane's arms. Kane didn't catch them. Pushing off the Exceed and Dragon Slayer, who was surprisingly heavy for being so short, Ur groaned and picked herself up off the ground to face their surprise guest. Claiming to being their client, the man looked to be in his mid-30s with slicked back blond hair wearing a cleanly pressed blue, pinstriped business suit complete with a black necktie and golden cuff links. He looked like he was coming back from a day in the office with the exception of the silver loop earring in his left ear that seemed strangely out-of-place with his formal appearance. The obviously wealthy man laughed heartedly at the team's antics and offered a hand to aid Izumi and Blaise back to their feet.

"Sorry about that." The man apologized sincerely. "My friends always say that I'm very light on my friend and I tend to scare people that way. Just a bad habit I picked up from my rebellious teenage years."

"You're Mr. Vilpillinen?" Kane questioned sternly.

"Please, call me Luke." Luke waved cheerfully; Kane narrowed his eyes. "I was on my way to check on Yukata-San –the man who owns this building – when I heard someone say my name. Since you seem to know me, I take it you must be the ones from Fairy Tail? The ones who accepted the job?"

"That's us!" Izumi shouted enthusiastically, causing many of them to flinch. "Sorry, it's my first job and I'm really, really, really excited to get to work. I'm Izumi A. Dragneel and these are my teammates: Blaise, Ur Fullbuster, and…ugh…Kane Redfox." The iron giant sprouted a visible vein on his forehead. "We're Fairy Tail's Team XL!"

"She is really getting into this." Ur murmured to Blaise.

"Can you blame her?" The Exceed smiled. "She's wanted to join Fairy Tail since she was a little girl. And now that she's here, she wants to make a name for herself just like her parents."

"Dragneel, Fullbuster, and Redfox." Luke hummed thoughtfully. "You three wouldn't happen to be related to Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, and Gajeel Redfox, would you? The three wizards that competed in the Grand Magic Games twenty years ago."

"They're our dads!" Izumi boasted.

"Well, I'm glad to see that see that Fairy Tail would send strong reliable wizards to help." Luke smiled respectfully; Izumi's ego gained power boost. "Let's talk about this further at my house. My cooks should be finishing lunch about now and I bet they would love to have guests. But…I was kinda wondering…" The wizard blinked in confusion at the man's sudden hesitation, which was explained rather easily when he pointed to the Ice-Make wizard. "Why isn't she wearing any pants?"

"SON OF A…"

* * *

Luke Vilpillinen's 'house' was, in simple terms, huge – it looked more like a palace than a humble homestead. The building could hold Fairy Tail's meager tavern three times over and must have held over a thousand rooms according to Blaise's calculations. Team XL and their client were seated around the lengthy table of Luke's enormous dining room that easily put Erza's bedroom to shame. Izumi and Ur – who had found her pants hanging from a lamppost – watched in absolute amazement as twenty or so maids, butlers, and private cooks bustled around the rooms, preparing everything for lunch. Apparently a rich man's lunch was compared to a normal man's feast as half of the table was piled with a wide array of edible good. From normal foods like chicken and rice to things Ur had never even heard of; Izumi had been able to name three traditional Seven meals. All the while, Kane was just grimacing like he had a bad toothache.

"Sorry my place is kinda small." Luke laughed nervously. "But it's the best I can manage on my pay."

"_This is small?!_" Izumi, Ur, and Blaise mentally exclaimed.

"You all must be hungry after your long trip." Luke said politely. "Please, eat as much as you like."

The rich man's words were like a starting gun at a race track. Knowing that she had permission from their client, Izumi immediately dived into her meal, grabbing every little thing she could her grubby little hands could reach. Kane isn't known for being a slob…in most cases, but he is known for his competitive edge and the Dragon Slayer had just issued a challenge. Ur and Blaise merely sweatdropped at the display as the two monsters ravaged the dinner table, splattering chucks of food of the floor, walls, ceiling, and even other people. The Exceed was starting to wonder who the real animal is in the room.

"You'll have to excuse them." Ur apologized, ignoring the chunks of steak slapping against her face. "They're a bit…excitable."

"It's quite all right." Luke waved nonchalantly, wiping a bit of mustard off his cheek. "It's nice to see young people have such healthy appetites. But back to the matter at hand, you do know why I sent a job request to Fairy Tail, right?"

"Yes." Ur nodded seriously; the hungry beast thankfully stopped to listen. "You said wanted us to catch a thief called the Spirit King. From what we heard around town, he's been going around town stealing valuables from people homes."

"That's correct." Luke said with a hint of depression in his voice. "No one knows who he is or where he came from, but he suddenly appeared at Hajiro-San's home and broke through all his security Lacrima before stealing his most valuable item: an emerald worth eight-hundred thousand jewels. Everyone thought it was a one-time occurrence until the Spirit King appeared again and took Shijiyaka-San's family crest worth two million jewels. And then it happened again and again. His latest attack was on Yukata-San, who was the owner of the house you just saw. His attacks are becoming more frequent and I fear it is only a matter of time for the same fate falls on the rest of Freesia."

"You said in the job request that you wanted wizards who are experienced with fighting Celestial Spirits." Kane spoke, tearing off a piece of chicken with his teeth. "I take it this guy is a Celestial Wizard."

"Yes." Luke nodded. "All reports of the robberies say that the Spirit King uses Celestial Spirits to steal the treasures."

"Celestial Spirit Wizards are a rare breed this day and age." Ur said thoughtfully. "Since the Zentopia incident, very few wizards are reluctant to use celestial Spirit Magic and the art is starting to die out to the point where it may be considered Lost Magic soon. The fact that he uses Celestial Spirit Magic does narrow down the list of suspects, but there's still a lot we don't…"

Without warning, Izumi slammed her clenched fist into the oak-wood table, leaving a wide crack that stretched across the surface. Many of the people in the room, including the servants, jumped in shock of the tan-skinned immigrant's action. Ur could see the veins in her best friend's arm throbbing with adrenaline and her whole body shaking not from fear, but with pent-up aggression. Doing her best to calm herself, Izumi pushed her seat out and stood up for all to see – the flames in her eyes were burning with rage.

"That bastard." Izumi growled lowly. "To use Celestial Spirits as tools for criminal acts…it makes me sick. My mama wouldn't have stood for it and I won't either – Celestial Spirits aren't meant to be treated this way!" She snapped her focus to Luke, who seemed to have stiffened under her heated gaze. "Tell me where this Spirit King is so I can beat the crap out of him."

"Before you go all Black Dragon on the guy's ass, we need to find him first." Kane said calmly under the furious stare of his nakama before turning to their client. "You have any idea where this guy might be or what he might look like."

"No one knows for sure." Luke explained anxiously. "He only comes out at night and he always wears a mask. All that we know is that he is after very valuable treasures owned by the people in this town. The others tried to buy security Lacrima and hire mercenaries and even the royal military, but nothing seems to work. That's why I'm hoping Fairy Tail will be able to catch this mask thief before he steals anything else."

"We'll have to draw him out." Ur surmised. "I heard the soldiers talking earlier and they say the Spirit King always makes an appearance before he takes what he wants. Sounds like this guy wants a little attention, so maybe we can use that against him. All we have to do is find something valuable to guard and wait for him to come to us."

"Got anything he might want?" Kane asked their client.

"Well…if he is a Celestial Wizard…then he might be interested in the reward I offered you." Luke commented.

All of Izumi's previous anger vanished and was replaced with child-like glee – Ur wondered if her friend was bipolar. Though given that Izumi had made it her life mission to collect all of her deceased mother's Golden Gate Keys, it was kinda understandable…kinda. The rich entrepreneur clapped his hands twice and one of the many butlers appeared almost instantaneously at his side holding a refined oak chest; Blaise wished they had something like that at Fairy Hills. Luke took the chest, waving his servant away, and carefully opened the latch for the treasure inside. From within the box, their client brought forth a glistening Golden Gate Key with a heart-shaped body and the teeth were also shaped like a heart with a purple Zodiac symbol stamped on the face. The other members of Team XL could tell that Izumi really wanted that key by the unblinking look in her eyes and were worried she might kill their client to get it.

"If the Spirit King is a Celestial Wizard, then he will want this." Luke proclaimed with certainty. "This is…"

"Virgo the Maiden!" Izumi screamed excitedly. "She is a Celestial Spirit that specializes in Earth Magic and a bit of Chain Magic! Her stamina is 121, offense is 164, defense is 84, and her summoning level is 43! She is absolutely loyal to anyone that holds her key and has a fetish for BDSM!"

"That last part we didn't need to know." Blaise sweatdropped.

"Uh…yeah, I guess that right?" Luke chuckled awkwardly. "I got this Golden Gate Key as a gift from my mother after I opened my first company ten years ago. I'm a bit of Celestial Spirit Wizard myself, but I'm so busy with my company that I really don't have time to practice with magic. You seem to know a lot about Golden Gate Keys – are you a Celestial Spirit Wizard, too?"

"I can't use a key to save my life." Izumi said proudly; the group collectively sweatdropped. "But my mama was the only person ever to collect all twelve Golden Gate Keys, so I want to collect all of them to learn more about her. Ever since I arrived in Fairy Tail, I did research about my parents in the archives and learned everything I could about their magic."

"It's nice to see someone so dedicated to something they're passionate about." Luke smiled pleasantly. "Well, if you manage to catch the Spirit King, I will gladly hand over the Golden Gate Key to you. I have a feeling you'll take care of her."

"Then it sounds like we've got a plan." Ur commented. "All we gotta do is hang around the key and catch this Spirit King guy when he shows up. When he does, Team XL will be ready to take him out."

"Yeah!" Izumi cheered. "I'm all fired up!"

* * *

"I'm so bored…" Izumi complained.

That was the thirty-seventh time the tan-skinned wizard moaned in the last hour – Ur took a habit of counting them all out of boredom. After managing to salvage what was left of dinner following Izumi and Kane's pillage, the team of three wizards and one Exceed relocated to Luke's study for the night. Surrounded by wall-to-wall bookshelves, plush silk loveseats, and a welcoming wood burning fireplace, it was hard not to feel relaxed and fall into a comfortable slumber. Though the portrait of Luke's sinister-looking grandfather hanging over the fireplace did help a little. Team XL were keeping a close watch on their target – the wooden chest with Virgo's key – resting on the coffee table and made it explicitly clear that no one was allowed in for the rest of the night. This made sure no one would sneak in and swipe the key while they were distracted. Though the team was more concerned about Izumi stealing the key than the Spirit King – Ur and Blaise had to stop her nine times in the last thirty minutes.

As of now, the Black Dragon slayer was sprawled across the sofa, whining per usual. Ur was scouring through the bookshelves, searching for any reading material that didn't involve science, business, and nuclear physics. That last one left them all confused. Kane was sitting on the windowsill, staring at the chest intently, and Blaise was playing with her tail while tolerating with her partner's moans.

"It was your idea to do this stakeout in the first place." Blaise reminded, pawing her flexible appendage. "If you're so bored, try finding something to entertain yourself. Didn't you bring some of those comics you liked back in Seven?"

"I stopped reading them when they started that New 52 crap." Izumi growled angrily. "Not only do they erase eighty years worth of history and the story lines are full of plot holes, but they turned the strong female characters into second-string sex dolls. Quite frankly, I'm insulted. Their rivals don't pull that kind of shit and that's why they have a successful film series."

"You're still ranting about that, huh?" Blaise said uncaringly.

"Do you have any idea what they are talking about?" Ur asked as she moved closer to Kane.

"Don't know, don't care." Kane replied honestly.

"Well, I can't really blame her for being tired." Ur commented, taking out a book before putting it back in disgust. If there was one thing worse than math, it was crappy teenage vampire romance novels. "But whatever we do, we can't afford to get distracted. If the Spirit King does show up, we have to – Izumi, put it back!"

"But it's shiny." Izumi whined childishly, having been caught red-handed with Virgo's key. Nonetheless, the tan-skinned immigrant returned the key to its case under Ur's icy glare. "Meanie."

"Just try to stay awake." Ur commanded, still searching the bookshelves. "If the Spirit King does intend to show up, we need to be ready for anything. I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."

And so they waited…and waited…and waited…and waited. Seven long hours of being trapped in a small room with no form of entertainment was not the best way to keep a bunch of teenagers awake during the long night. Probably the most interesting moment was when Izumi turned the flames of the fireplace black around midnight…seconds before she ate it, sending the room into pitch darkness. A _**whack**_and _**thud**_followed shortly after. By the time it reached 3 O'clock in the morning, Team XL could no longer muster the energy to stay awake and was out like a light. Ur and Blaise made themselves comfortable on the plush loveseats, Kane had become quite relaxed leaning against the windowsill, and Izumi was still sprawled on the floor in front of the now empty fireplace. It looked as if the Spirit King wasn't going to show up this night…or at least that what they had hoped.

When 4 O'clock rolled around and the Fairy Tail wizards were ignorant to the realm of reality, the doors opened soundlessly and a silent shadow slithered inside. The Spirit King – garbed in his mysterious attire and blank expression mask – stepped across the room stealthily, making extra certain not to breath too heavily as he passed the window. The biggest one seemed like the most disciplined of the group and it wouldn't be surprising if he was feinting sleep. Kneeling close to the coffee table, the masked thief carefully reached out to grab the polished chest when he heard a noise coming from the Dragon Slayer on the floor. The thief visibly stiffened as the foreigner rolled onto her back, but thankfully went back to sleep.

"These idiots are going to give me a heart attack." The Spirit King whispered in relief. "It's one thing to hire mercenaries and soldiers, but Fairy Tail wizards are reckless and dangerous. Fortunately, they are also the dimmest. Now that I have my – what?" The masked thief opened the chest, expecting to find a priceless golden key, but instead found a note that he read aloud. "Black…Dragon…Roar?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth!"

The Spirit King staggered in momentary amazement as the seemingly sleeping Dragon Slayer quickly jumped to her feet and breathed a narrow stream of black-colored flames. Fortunately for the well-dressed thief, he rolled out of the way and dived at the window above Kane's head, smashing the glass loud enough for everyone in the mansion to hear. The Spirit King tucked and rolled as he landed in the courtyard, gratefully not tearing anything on his uniform – it was a rental.

By now, everyone in the mansion was awake as apparent by all the lights turning on in each room, meaning it was only a matter of time before the military arrived to arrest him. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem. But if Fairy Tail stuck around to intervene, there was no guarantee that he would be able to make an escape. That thought in mind, the Spirit King dashed across the yard for the wrought iron gates when his escape route was inexplicably transformed into a wall of solid ice.

"Leaving so soon?" Ur said tauntingly. The Ice-Make wizard had her hands pressed to the ground, forming a frozen path to the gates with Izumi and Kane beside her and Blaise shifted to her Battle Form. "We didn't even get a chance to introduce ourselves. We're Team XL of the Fairy Tail Guild and we're here to bring you in."

"Somehow, it doesn't surprise me that a dumbass like Vilpillinen would hire the most reckless guild in Fiore." The Spirit King chuckled in a mocking manner. "Forget about his treasure – he'll be lucky if his house is still standing."

"Hey, Fairy Tails' not that bad!" Izumi shouted defensively.

"Actually, we kinda are." Ur admitted.

"Enough talking already!" Kane grumbled, charging in ahead without heeding his teammate's warnings. "I'm just gonna make this quick so we can get the money and go home already!" The dark-haired giant performed an impressively leap over the Spirit King's head, raising his right foot in preparation. "**Iron Fist Style: Elephant Stomp!**"

The Spirit King looked to be reaching for something in his sleeve when he was stuck by a sudden realization: this oversized muscle head would kill him if he didn't move. The enigmatic thief quickly dived to the side just moments before Kane's foot made contact with the ground, which in turn formed a ten foot crater that literally shook the foundation of the mansion grounds. The girls nearly lost their footing from the shockwave of Kane's attack – now Izumi was starting to understand why they considered him the strongest man in Fairy Tail. From his place on the ground, the Spirit King sighed in sweet relief; this maniac had the strength of one hundred strong men.

He had heard of wizards who use muscle magic to increase their own strength, but that didn't seem to be the case for the dark-haired wizard. There were no changes in his appearance and there were no signs of magic being used – he just naturally had the strength of a Titan. In spite of coming so close to death, the Spirit King willed himself to stay focused on the task at hand, especially since the Fairy Tail juggernaut was charging toward him like a rampaging bull. Now was the moment he needed to make his move or he would surely be waking up in a hospital before heading to jail. Literally pulling an ace up his sleeve, the Spirit King produced a golden key similar to Virgo's except the teeth was shaped like a horseshoe and was printed with a different symbol.

"Open, Gate of the Heavenly Scales!" The Spirit King Commanded. "Libra!"

With his summons, a golden glow exploded from the teeth of the key. Not a moment later, Kane found himself pressed flat against the ground as if he was being crushed by fifty thousand pounds of pure-iron weights. Izumi and the girls gapped at the creature brought to this dimension by the unknown bandit. Floating just off the ground was a fair-skinned woman with raven-black hair tied in in an ox horn style. Her attire consists of a striped bikini top along with a patterned loincloth sporting pom-poms at the waist. She wore numerous bangles on her arms and legs, and her neck was also concealed by a thick necklace. On her feet were a simple pair of sandals, and her head was dressed with a zigzagged headband ,and concealing her lower face is another cloth that bears her sign. Dangling from her hands was a pair of brass scales tied to each of her fingertips.

Both Izumi and Ur was caught staring at the curvaceous woman for two different reasons. Izumi because she was meeting another of her mother's Golden Gate Keys and Ur because…well, the woman was rather…dare she say…sexy. But there was no way she was going to admit it in front of the others.

"What…the…hell." Kane grunted, unsuccessfully trying to pull himself up. "You already have a Golden Gate Key?"

"Why, yes, I do." The Spirit King informed, digging around his sleeves once more. With a sleight of hand, the masked criminal withdrew three more keys: one shaped like an axe, one dual-sided, and one shaped like a claw. "In fact, I have managed to acquire a good number of Golden Gate Keys over the years. Libra in particular has the power to increase a person's weight three hundred times it normal gravity." Kane growled dangerously. "And once I take yours, my collection will go up to four."

"He already has four Golden Gate Keys." Blaise narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Apparently, he's not just a common thief like we thought. We need to take a moment and…Izumi's not listening, is she."

"Nope." Ur uttered plainly at the spot where the Black Dragon Slayer was once standing.

"You bastard!" Izumi screamed, dashing for the concealed criminal with her fist alight with black flames. "How dare you use my mama's keys to do evil things?! I'm gonna beat the hell out of you!"

"Open, Gate of the Scorpion!" The Spirit King demanded, holding out the claw key. "Scorpio!"

"He can use multiple summons?!" Blaise exclaimed shockingly.

From the Spirit World, a tall man with red-and-white hair and a mechanical gun shaped like a scorpions tail appeared before his Summoner. He wore a red flower-shaped collar with golden trimmings, red sheet-like material around his waist, a large belt with the Scorpio zodiac symbol on it, a pair of black shorts, and bandage-like material wrapped around his arms and legs. Izumi actually tripped on her own two feet when meeting with this particular Celestial Spirit – Marina told her all the time about the story of Aquarius and Scorpio.

"Scorpio, take care of the pests." The Spirit King commanded.

"I'm cool with that." Scorpio smirked, kneeling close to the ground with his tail aimed at Izumi. "**Sand Buster!**"

The scorpion-like human unleashed a massive amount of sand in the form of a tornado, not allowing Izumi any opportunity to get back on her feet and dodge. Fortunately for the tan-skinned immigrant, Ur jumped between her best friend and the sand barrage with her fist pounding against her open palm. With a quick hand of Ice-Maker Magic, the half-naked wizard managed to craft a giant shield in the form of a snowflake just before the Sand Buster hit them. The sturdy ice shield seemed to hold for a moment…but only for a moment. It had appeared that the bombardment of desert sand was too much for the Ice-Make Wizard to compete against and the shield shattered like broken glass.

Ur and, consequently, Izumi were blasted across the courtyard into one of the decorative topiaries, which had now been transformed into an impressive sand sculpture. The Spirit King laughed amusingly at the Fairy Tail Wizard's pathetic display of power when he noticed something glinting in the middle of the darkness. It was Virgo's key – the Dragon Slayer must have kept it on hand and dropped it when Scorpio dispatched her. The enigmatic figure stepped over and kneeled down to take his prize when…

"You're not getting it that easily!" Blaise proclaimed, appearing behind the thief with her claws open.

"Libra." The Spirit King said coolly. Understanding the silent command, the scandalously dressed Spirit waved her second scale towards the transformed Exceed and performed her magic over the feline. Within that split second of time, Blaise was crushed under the weight of her increased gravity, dropping her face-first into the dirt and reverting her back to her original form. "You are the best Fairy Tail has to offer. I have to say, I quite disappointed."

"Don't…walk away…from me." Kane grunted forcefully, attempting to drag himself across the grass despite Libra's spell. "We ain't…finished yet."

"Oh, but I think we are." The Spirit King said casually, being forced to climb the brick wall since the gate was frozen shut. "You sure, you four…'wizards' were defeated singlehandedly by a common thief armed with keys. It seems like Fairy Tail deserves its second-place ranking. Perhaps Vilpillinen would have been wiser to hire members of the White Crusade – at least they show results."

"Don't…you dare…" Kane growled angrily. "Look down…on Fairy Tail."

"I would love to stay and chat, but I simply must go." The Spirit King said playfully, tipping his hat to the before disappearing over the wall. "Ta-ta."

With the disappearance of their master, Libra and Scorpio returned to the realm of the Celestial Spirits, ending the magic they held over the wizards. Now that he was no longer being pinned down, Kane leaped to his feet and dashed over to the area the masked criminal disappeared to, jumping over the wall in a single bound. Unfortunately, by that time, the Spirit King had already got away without a trace. Growled in anger, Kane vented his frustration by slamming his fist against the defenseless wall, toppling the structure without much resistance. While Kane walked back to the courtyard with head hanging low, Blaise was helping to dig Izumi and Ur out of the sand mound at the same time Luke emerged from the house dressed in his formal nightwear.

"What happened?" Luke asked worriedly, grabbing Ur's arm and pulling her out of the sand. "Are you all right? Did you see the Spirit King?"

"Yeah, we saw him." Ur answered disappointedly.

"We lost the key…and our pride." Blaise remarked sadly.

"What pisses me off is that guy wasn't even trying." Kane grunted heatedly. "With those Golden Gate Keys and the element of surprise, he could have stomped us out at any time he wanted to. He didn't just defeat us, he humiliated us – treated us like we were a bunch of toys to play with until we break."

"I suppose this mission was a failure." Luke sighed unhappily, scratching his head. "Maybe it's best if we called in the White Crusade for some back…"

"No." Izumi said sternly, brushing the sand off of her jean jacket. "This is our mission; we can handle it."

"Izumi, if this is about the reward…" Ur started.

"This isn't about the reward anymore, Ur." Izumi stated seriously. "Not only is he mistreating my mama's Celestial Spirits, but he also insulted the name of the Fairy Tail Guild. I won't let anyone get away with making fun of my nakama. We'll catch the Spirit King and when we do…" She held out her hand and summoned small portions of black flames to spell the letters "H-E-L-L" along her fingers. "I'm gonna send him on a one way trip!"

* * *

**Please, read and review.**

**Next Time: Give and Take**

* * *

**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Pulito Neteso**  
Age: **8**  
Magic: **Cleaning Magic  
**Likes: **Cleanliness, shiny stuff, stainless steel, cleaning utensils, the Fairy Tail Guild.  
**Dislikes: **Dirt, grime, soup scum, plaque, bugs, cobwebs, anything that ruins her clean household**  
Relatives: **Erza Scarlet (Adopted Mother), Jak Scarlet (Adopted Brother)  
**Description: **Not much is known about Pulito's history. Erza Scarlet had passed through a town on the way back from a Guild Master's meeting and saw a little girl on the side of the road offering to clean for food. Taking pity on her, Erza took Pulito in as her own child and offered her a place as Fairy Hill's personal maid. Pulito has an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder for cleanliness and won't allow even a speck of dirt to enter her home.


	9. 9 Give and Take

**Fairy Tail: Rekindle**

Fairy Tail, Rave © Hiro Mashima

**Note: My One-or-None Policy is still in effect. That means that unless there is at least one review for this and future chapters posted, all stories will come to a definite halt. That includes Naruto: Jinchuriki Chronicles and Birds or Prey.**

**Note 2: Obviously not my ****best work****, but it's just lucky that I even had enough time to write this. I'll be a lot busier lately with finals coming up, so please be patient.**

* * *

**Chapter Nine: Give and Take**

Team XL had hit its first low point as a group.

It was the morning after confronting the Spirit King for the first time and the theft of the Golden Gate Key – Izumi screamed into a pillow every time she was reminded of it. The team of downtrodden wizards was sulking in the study room with their client, Luke Vilpillinen, while the maids busied themselves with cleaning the broken glass on the floor. The Black Dragon Slayer was lying face down on the couch as she moaned in the cushion, ignoring Blaise and Ur sitting on her head and butt respectively. Although, the tan-skinned foreigner could have sworn she felt someone pinch her behind and was pretty sure it wasn't Kane. The iron-clad titan was too absorbed with the scenery outside the broken window, looking close to punching the sun for being too happy.

Shooing the cleaning maids away and thanking the butlers for the snack brought to them, Luke sighed heavily with his eyes trained on the wizards, looking thoroughly disappointed.

"Well, I don't know what to say." Luke stated unhappily. "I trusted you to protect my most valuable possession and you lost it to the Spirit King. When I heard that Fairy Tail was one of the best wizard guilds in Fiore, I thought you would be more…"

"Don't! Finish! That! Sentence!" Izumi growled lowly; Luke shivered slightly.

"We're sorry that we lost your Golden Gate Key, sir." Ur apologized formally. "But in all fairness, you seemed to have left out a few details about what we would be going up against if we were going to be facing the Spirit King. Like for instance, that he already had four of the twelve Golden Gate Keys."

"Better make that five now that he has Virgo." Kane grunted in addition. "And there's also the issue of this Spirit King guy being able to use multiple summons at the same time. Just that gypsy spirit alone was enough trouble without him summoning that scorpion."

"The ability of multiple summonses is rare even among Celestial Wizards." Blaise commented thoughtfully. "Earlier this morning, I talked do some of the soldiers from Fiore's military and they confirmed knowing about the Spirit and the Golden Keys he had collected. They also wondered why you failed to tell us when everyone else knew."

"I thought that since you were from Fairy Tail, you might be able to handle it." Luke responded nervously. "After all, doesn't Fairy Tail have its own Celestial Spirit Wizard? Maybe you could call her up and…"

"Lucy Heartfilia has been dead for fifteen years." Ur said coldly, cautiously looking for her best friend's reaction. The Black Dragon Slayer didn't respond – she was either well-adjusted to the fact or simply didn't care. "In any case, we usually like to be well informed of what we are dealing with before we accept a mission."

"Emphasis on the 'usually' part." Kane groaned.

"Well, I'm sorry." Luke said with obvious disappointment. "But when I placed the job request, I specifically said that the wizards would be required to have experience against Celestial Spirit Wizards. If this job proves to be too much for you, then feel free to go back to your guild and tell them how you failed to complete your mission." By this point, Luke was bordering on the edge of anger for the wizard's failure – a mutual feeling shared with Kane. "I knew I should have hired the White Crusade in the first place. After all, they are the number one guild in…"

"Shut up!" Izumi roared. The Black Dragon Slayer leaped to her feet in a rage, sending Ur and Blaise flying to opposite sides of the room. Luke visibly stiffened when the tan-skinned wizard leaned in close with her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Listen here, rich boy. Fairy Tail is going to catch the Spirit King and we're going to beat him until he's black and blue."

"I-If this is about the reward…" Luke stammered fretfully.

"This isn't about the reward anymore." Izumi claimed, gritting her teeth. "I don't care if I never see Virgo's Key again – although, it would be nice if we got it back. You heard what that _nečist_ said last night: that Fairy Tail deserves its second place ranking. He was looking down on our guild like it's a second-rate carnival." She punches her fist into her open palm, coating hand in black flames. "I'll never forgive that guy for insulting the Fairy Tail guild."

"I know I don't say this enough." Kane interrupted with a calm smirk. "But the runt is right." Izumi grumbled something under her breath about being a late bloomer. "We need to teach this guy a lesson about what happens when you insult the Fairy Tail guild."

"Well, since everyone's so serious about this…" Ur commented as she dusted off her legs – her pants went missing an hour ago. "I guess we'll be staying here a while. But the real question is how are we going to find him again? Now that we know what we're up against, there's no way the Spirit King is gonna risk attacking the same place twice."

"And now that he already has Virgo's Key, he has nothing left to take." Blaise included, taking notice of Luke's insulted look. "Oh, c'mon, it's not like you have anything you want to keep anyway." The young millionaire thought about it and concluded that she was correct. "Now think everyone. The Spirit King is obviously interested in expensive things, Golden Gate Keys, and performing in front of a large crowd of people. So how can we use all these things to our advantage?"

The room went silent as the groups tried to pull together all their thoughts into devising a way to catch the mysterious, and rather talented, magical thief. Like the last time they found him, they were going to need something big and valuable to attract his attention. Just like the ten-foot priceless diamond statue the servants were carrying across the hall. There second option was to find another Golden Gate Key to draw him out, but where were they going to find one on such short notice? Kane winced slightly as the sunlight passed through the window and bounced off Izumi's key into his eyes. And finally, they were going to need a large crowd of people – the Spirit King was reported to love performing in front of an audience.

"Excuse me, sir." The head butler called from the threshold. "But the guests will be arriving within the hour and the head chef wants to be sure that everything is as you requested it. Now, we intended to serve a total of five hundred plus, correct?"

"Not now, Niles!" Luke waved irritably. "Can't you see we're in the middle of something?! Just…handle it yourself!"

"Very good, sir." The head butler bowed, muttering under his breath as he left. "Pompous twit."

"Now, back to the discussion." Luke reminded. "How to catch the Spirit King."

"Seriously!" Ur exclaimed incredulously; the others jumped briefly. "No one is going to say anything about it? Ugh, idiots." She walked around the table, kneeling next to their client. "Ok, going back to what he said: serving a total of five hundred plus?"

"Oh, that's for the Annual Charity Event or ACE for short." Luke answered with some apparent confusion. "Every year, someone in Freesia Town is selected to host an auction that is, supposedly, to help raise charity. Truthfully, it's just a publicity stunt to make the rich people look good – they wouldn't even be caught dead in the same room with someone who didn't have an annual income under one million jewels."

"That seems like a harsh stereotype." Izumi commented.

"This year, they chose me to host the ACE." Luke finished. "Although, it's probably because I'm the new guy and everyone else was too lazy to do it themselves."

"This is exactly what we've been looking for!" Ur jumped up, her fist clenched with confidence. "With hundreds of fat, rich guys giving away expensive valuables, there's no way the Spirit King will be able to resist making an appearance. Now…since it's clear that this guy's been collecting Golden Gate Keys, using another one as bait would be a surefire to bring him out into the open."

"But where are we gonna find another Golden…Gate…Key…?" Izumi said slowly.

The Black Dragon Slayer was starting to feel uncomfortable when she realized that all eyes were squared on her. At first, she thought she might have slipped back into Seven speak – even after practicing for months to learn Fiore's language – or she was just that attractive. Personally, she was hoping for the latter. But when following their line of vision, Izumi understood that they weren't staring at her, but the Golden Gate Key of Aquarius tied around her neck. Now it made sense: they wanted to use her mother's key as bait for the Spirit King. It wasn't a brilliant plan and would catch their attention of the thief in no time, so Izumi did the only sensible thing anyone in her position would do.

She jumped out the third story window.

* * *

The hour had passed, the night had fallen surprisingly fast, and the Vilpillinen Mansion was alive with activity. As according to Luke's prediction, every billionaire from Magnolia to Crocus arrived at for the so-called 'charity event' with swarms of personal publishers and reports nipping at their heels. Everyone short of the King of Fiore himself had showed up for the festivities, but that was only because he was summoned to a meeting with the Magic Council, according to one of the passing reports. There were also mentions of the newest inheritor of the Heartfilia Konzern – a woman named Aki Nyrok – that had refused to show for personal reasons. Under normal conditions, Izumi would have loved to meet the woman who had inherited her mother's fortune, but she had other pressing matters.

The unfortunate Black Dragon Slayer – lacking her beloved Golden Gate Key – was slumped over the ballroom bar counter, simultaneously moaning and sobbing. Trying to blend in with the one percent community, the Fairy Tail wizards were provided clothing made from the finest materials shipped in from countries like Bosco, Caelum, Minstrel, and Seven. Izumi was outfitted with a traditional gown of her home country made from Obsidian Desert Silk, which had unfortunately been splotched with orange stains since she arrived. The Black Dragon Slayer rapped her knuckles against the bar table, requesting another shot to her already growing collection of twenty glasses.

"Make it stronger this time, Niles." Izumi moaned. "I want to forget everything about tonight."

"Don't you think you had enough, ma'am?" Niles questioned.

"I'll tell ya when I had enough!" Izumi screeched, drawing a lot of unwanted attention from the guests. "What are you all looking at?" The visitors quickly turned away, not wanting to incur a drunken woman's wrath. "_Glup bogataški. _Minding their own business."

"Izumi?" The Black Dragon Slayer managed to pull herself up enough to face her best friend, who was dressed with an unusual combination of a beautiful icy-blue Caelum sequins dress and a pile of padlocked chains. "I know I'm gonna regret asking, but…what are you doing?"

"Drowning my sorrows." Izumi groaned as the butler brought her a shot.

"In orange juice?" Ur asked with a raised brow.

"I'm only fifteen!" Izumi whined, downing her tangy beverage in one gulp. "Ahh, that's the stuff. Sooo…interesting fashion statement your making. Is that some kinda Virgo-Mirajane style or something; I'm completely oblivious when it comes to fashion."

"If you're referring to the chain, then no." Ur chuckled lightly. "With these things on, there's no way I can subconsciously strip. I know it's a bit…unorthodox, but it is attracting a lot of attention and not just the bad kind. I even managed to get the number for someone's communication Lacrima."

"Well, all right!" Izumi grinned mischievously. "Ur Fullbuster: heartbreaker. I bet all the guys are just lining up to meet you."

"Uh…yeah, guys." Ur stammered nervously. "Of course it's a guy. I mean, who else could it be? It's not like I go around looking for pretty girls and ask for the communication numbers because that would be totally weird, right?" The Black Dragon Slayer stared silently at her best friend, noting that she perspiring more than usual. "Anyway…gotta go!"

"That was weird." Izumi commented, watching the Ice-Make wizard disappear into the crowd.

While the tan-skinned wizard returned to her admirable attempts of getting drunk, the other half of Team XL was mingling with the higher social class near the dance floor. It was a wonder how Luke managed to acquire a stylish, lavender dressing gown fit for an Exceed. Then again, with that kinda of money, anything was possible. The talking feline was chatting animatedly with plenty of eccentric billionaires while riding on Kane's shoulder, whom was looking as intimidating as usual. It didn't help that his titanic bone structure was too big for any formal attire and he simply chose to wear a blazer with the sleeves ripped off.

"And I told him: I asked for ivory bathroom tiles, not white." Blaise said jokingly, earning rapturous laughter from her audience. "I swear it is so hard to find good help these days, but what are you doing to do when the only help you can get has no opposable thumbs."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kane whispered.

"I don't know." Blaise replied in a hushed tone. "Help me."

"All right, all right, back off, ya money-grubbin' parasites!" Kane commanded rudely; the guests muttered of poor etiquette. "And this is one of the sixteen different reasons why I hate talkin' to people: they so annoying."

"This comes from the guy who makes a habit of breaking people's bones." Blaise remarked.

"Yeah, there's something I've meant ta ask ya." Kane stated curiously. "I remember breaking the bones in the Dragon Slayer brat's arm the first day we met, you know, before I got slapped unconscious. But when she showed up on the train the next day, she was completely fine. What's up with that?"

"It's actually a funny story." Blaise answered interestingly. "Marine was taking Izumi to the hospital when they ran into a guy named Zero carrying a huge jar of leeches…"

"Excuse me? Could I have everyone's attention, please?" The clamor of the ballroom quickly died down with the exception of Izumi's pathetic moaning. Everyone's attention was directed to the stage on the far end of the room where Luke Vilpillinen was approaching the stand, tapping his microphone to check it. "Can everyone hear me all right? Thank you, everyone, for joining us at the twenty-fifth Annual Charity Event, hosted and sponsored by Vilpillinen Enterprises. As you know, we host this event every year to help those who are less privileged."

"Yeah, their accountants." Kane scoffed; Blaise hushed him.

"I would like to begin the auction with a small donation from a small company called uh…Dragneel Industries." Luke announced, clapping along with the crowd as the servants brought out the first item. There, nestled on a fine silk pillow, was Izumi's Golden Gate Key – the Dragon Slayer sobbed louder. "This is _the_ genuine Golden Gate Key of Aquarius, the Water Bearer; not an imitation. One lucky bidder will have the pleasure of addition this one-of-a-kind item to their collection. Now, I would like to start the bid off at…"

"Twenty billion jewels!" Izumi screamed, jumping on top of the bar.

"You don't have that kind of money!" Ur yelled, performing a flying kick to knock the Dragon Slayer off. "Uh, sorry about that. Please continue."

"As I was saying…" Luke continued awkwardly. "I would like to star the bid off at five thousand jewels. Do I hear any bids?"

"Six thousand!"

"Eight thousand!"

"Sixteen thousand!"

"My key…" Izumi cried.

"Hey, calm down." Ur murmured, patting the Dragon Slayer's head soothing. "Nobody's going to buy your key. The Spirit King will show and then we'll get all the Gold Gate Keys back…hopefully."

"I have forty-seven million jewels!" Luke pronounced loudly. "Do I have forty-eight million? Forty-eight million jewels for the authentic Golden Gate Key of the Water Bearer! No? All right then, forty-seven million jewels going once…going twice…so…"

Without warning, all the lights in the ballroom went out simultaneously, sending the chamber into pitch-black darkness. There were a lot of screams, an occasional chorus of breaking glass, and the constant groans of people running into each other. Although while, Team XL was trying to swim their way towards the stage through the sea of rich people; they had to protect the Aquarius Key…oh, and Luke, too. Izumi, Ur, Kane, and Blaise had barely made it to the edge of the platform when a spotlight flashed above them. The Spirit King appeared center stage, bowing to an unheard applause. Luke was lying unconscious on the floor at the thief's feet – a large lump forming on the back of his head.

"Thank you, thank you." The Spirit King said enthusiastically. "I must say that it is an honor to be invited to attend this extraordinary event even if I never got a proper invitation. It's wonderful to see our selfish, spoiled, overweight one percent doing the courtesy of auctioning of such wonderful trinkets for those less fortunate. Now if only that piece of crap was actually true." The masked criminal casually stepped over to the podium where the Key of Aquarius was resting. "Well, since this is a charity event, perhaps we should give this key to someone more deserving…namely me."

"_Ruke k sebi!_" The Spirit King snapped up, narrowly jumping before the black fireball crashed into the stage. The Golden Gate Key was flung into the air, where it was caught by its true owner. "This key belonged to my mama just like the rest of those keys you stole. And if you think you can just walk in and take my Key…" The Black Dragon Slayer gripped her dress and ripped it straight off, revealing her normal attire underneath. "Then you're gonna have to pry from my cold, dead _ruka_!"

"Wait, how is it even logically possible for her to wear pants under her dress?" Ur asked confused.

"This is Izumi we're talking about." Blaise remarked.

"Who cares? Get him!" Kane shouted.

The metal-garbed titan shredded his already ripped blazer and jumped to the stand at the same moment Blaise leaped off his shoulder, transforming to her Battle Mode. Strangely enough, the small dress she had been wearing extended to match her taller, more feminine form – it was definitely made for Exceed formal wear. Following in her friends example, Ur gripped the fabric of her dress - padlocks and chains included - and ripped it clean off to reveal…that she was wear her underwear underneath. The Ice-Make wizard's face flushed with embarrassment when the crowd started muttering disapprovingly at her actions.

"I totally walked into that one, didn't I?" Ur mumbled, slowly marching to the stage.

"Uh…Ur, you're kinda…" Izumi began.

"I know!" Ur snapped.

"I honestly wasn't expecting you four to show up again." The Spirit King proclaimed in a mocking tone. "I thought you would on your way back to Magnolia with your tails between your legs, Fairy _Tail._" Ur stared at the thief thoughtfully; something about that sentence didn't seem right. "If you're in the mood to be humiliated again, I am more than happy to oblige. After all, it wouldn't be much fun collecting my prize without putting any effort in it." Reaching for the key ring on his belt, the masked criminal detached two Golden Gate Keys. "Open, Gate of the Heavenly Scales! Libra! Open, Gate of the Scorpion! Scorpio!

Being summoned from the Spirit World, the gypsy scale holder and the half-man, half-scorpion duo appeared in a brilliant flash of light.

"These guy again." Ur glared.

"We're ready for them this time." Blaise proclaimed with certainty.

"Get rid of the pests already." The Spirit King commanded casually.

"You realize you said that twice in two days." Scorpio stated playfully; a joke that didn't amuse his master. "All right, all right, I'm on it. How's about you ladies get a load of my **Sand Buster!**"

Similar to the night before, the Scorpion crouched low to the ground with his mechanical tail forward, spewing a typhoon of sand. Once again, Ur stepped between the heroes and the Celestial Spirit with his fist pressed into her open palm, creating a dramatic chill in the atmosphere. Cupping her hands around her mouth to form a funnel, the underwear-clad wizard shouted '**Ice-Make: Roar**' and exhaled a heavy cloud of sparkling mist. The objects of opposite temperatures briefly clashed in the air, but the result was the rough grains being flash frozen into a misshapen sculpture. The cold chill traveled along the trail of sand until it returned to the originator, who quickly found himself consumed in the haze. When the moment had passed, Scorpio was found as a beautiful ice sculpture before being called back to the Spirit World.

Though his mask concealed his expression, the Spirit King was obviously irritated by the turn of events. Still, it was only one Celestial Spirit – he had more. The well-dressed thief snapped his fingers, commanding the Heavenly Scales to attention. The floating gypsy started tipping her scales and Team XL was slowly starting to feel heavier with each passing second. But before they realized it, a lavender blur swiped past Libra, severing the strings tied to her left hand. Blaise appeared directly behind the Celestial Spirit with her claws exposed – her God-given speed allowed her to move beyond human sight. With one of her scales disconnected, Libra was suddenly thrown off-balance and facefaulted to the floor, removing her influence over the wizards.

Libra attempted to rebalance herself when the Battle Mode Exceed performed a sweeping kick to the Celestial Spirit's abdomen, sending her tumbling back to her master. But as an unfortunate result, Blaise's Battle Mode was cancelled out and forced her to revert to her standard form – she made a mental note to ask Pantherlily for advice. As the Heavenly Scales flopped along the floor, the Spirit King used his foot to halt her progress. Libra groaned weakly and slowly looked up to her Summoner, hoping for forgiveness for her failure. But he had none. Without a hint of hesitation, the masked criminal stamped his heel into the gypsy's face.

"Worthless spirit!" The Spirit King sneered, digging his heel into her cheek. "You useless, good-for-nothing waste of space. I thought I warned you what would happen if you ever let me down. Seems I need to teach you another lesson."

"Master…please…" Libra pleaded.

"_Nečist!_" The Spirit King looked and barely jumped back in time to avoid Izumi's flaming fist. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're a celestial Spirit Wizard! How can you treat your Spirits like that?"

"I can treat my tools any way I want." The Spirit King stated nonchalantly; the vain on Izumi's neck was becoming more prominent. With a twist of his hand, the Spirit King drew another Key from his sleeves: one shaped like and axe. "For example. Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"

In a blaze of golden light, the newest arrival from the Spirit World stomped heavily on to the stage. As opposed to his title as the Golden Bull, Taurus looked more like an extremely muscular humanoid-cow given his white fur with black splotched and two lengthy horns. He didn't have much in terms of clothing; a dark unitard, a leather-brown belt across his chest, a pair of dark boots, and a row of bandages around his wrists with brown, fingerless gloves. Perhaps the only thing that gave him any respected despite his comedic appearance was the massive double headed battle axe.

The muscular bovine stood between Izumi and his Summoner, cracking his knuckles in an intimidating fashion. Marina had told her stories about Taurus; how he was the physically strongest of all of her mother's spirits. And while he was immensely loyal to his owner, he did have one fatal flaw…

"Moo! Look at that body!" Taurus howled perversely. The Golden Bull wasted no time leaving his master's side and started fawning over the Black Dragon Slayer. "Look at the cute little face and those slender curves! Maybe a little on the short side, but she's just so cute! And those breasts – moo, those marvelous breasts! I bet their super soft!" He stretched his fingers and grinned like a dirty pedophile. "Moo! I just have to touch them!"

"Beat it, te izopačen krava!" Izumi screamed, delivering a fearsome flaming uppercut.

But much to her surprise, the most her Black Dragon Fist had done was tilt his head back a little. Izumi was having a sudden flashback of her first mission request back in Magnolia when Kane shattered her arm. The man-cow snapped his head back to focus on the teenaged foreigner and smiled with his usual perverted look. Taurus grappled the Black Dragon Slayer by her wrists and effortlessly lifted her off the ground; the wizard fruitlessly swinging her legs at him. The Golden Bull looked ready to ravish her when…

"**Iron Fist Style: Peregrine Dive!**"

From out of nowhere, Kane dropped from the air with his arms cross and slammed into the Minotaur's neckline. The Golden Bull unleashed "Moo!" and staggered away sluggishly, releasing his hold on the Black Dragon Slayer. While Kane stepped between his teammate and the humanoid-bovine, Taurus grinned in a challenging way as he shook off Kane's attack.

"Hey, you must be pretty strong." Kane smirked confidently. "And normal person would have had their neck snap from a hit like that."

"It's been a while since anyone hit me with a mooove like that." Taurus said enthusiastically. "But it's gonna take a lot mooore than that to take me on."

"I'm growing tired of these games, Taurus." The Spirit King said irritably. "Just get rid of these brats so I can retrieve my Key."

"Whatever you want, boss." Taurus complied.

Reaching over his back, the Golden Bull strapped his mighty battle-axe and took a mighty horizontal swing at the Iron Fist of Fairy Tail. The girls had seen him withstand a bullet on the train, but Izumi had a suspicion that even Kane couldn't resist and a razor shape blade from a hulking cow. Their suspicions were proven correct when the dark-haired giant slapped his palms together over the axe edge, swiftly stopping it before reaching his neck. With Kane's hand full trying to stop the blade, Taurus took advantage with a strong kick to the wizard's stomach, sending him tumbling back by a few feet. Luckily, the iron-clad warrior managed to catch himself and tumble into a kneeling position.

Kane was hardly given any time to recover as Taurus stomped across the stage and swung his battle-axe down. But at the last second, the Iron Fist twisted for a roundhouse kick against the face of the blade, causing Taurus to divert from his path. Spotting the opening in the cow's defenses, Kane drilled his fist into the Celestial Spirit's rib cage and launched him to the wall, leaving a wide crack in the surface. The Golden Bull shook his head free of his dazed state just in time to spot the dark-haired warrior of Fairy Tail making another charge for him.

Taurus quickly ambled to his feet, making a grab for his weapon, and took a powerful swing across the air. Consequently for the Golden Bull, Kane predicted the movement and ducked enough to where that edge of the axe missed him by a hairbreadth. Taurus's weapon soon found itself wedged into the wall beside him and prevented a chance to retrieve it as Kane delivered an uppercut to the jaw. Taurus grunted from the blow, but quickly recovered and retaliated with swift knuckle blow to the cheek. Kane narrowed his eyes dangerously – it was on now.

Back and forth, the two mighty warriors pounded their fists against each other without showing any signs of stopping. But thankfully enough, the fist fight was brought to a screeching halt when Taurus and Kane snatched each other's fists, forcing them into a deadlock.

"You got some impressive moooves there, buddy." Taurus complimented. "I've been looking for a good sparring partner."

"Well, as much fun as I am having…" Kane grunted heavily. "I've got a job to do. **Iron Fist Style: Bull Horn!**"

In a quick blur of movement, Kane released his grappling hold on the muscular bovine and jumped forward to deliver a solid headbutt to Taurus's forehead. The resulting force of the blow slammed the Golden Bull through the wall and tossed him a good distance away into the gardens outside. Taurus, slumped into a dazed state, muttered something about 'beautiful breasts' before he was recalled to the Spirit World. Meanwhile, Kane was struggling to stay on his feet with Ur allowing him to use her shoulder for support – it looked like both of them had thick heads.

"Stupid perverted cow." The Spirit King growled angrily. "I should have known better to rely on such a worthless spirit."

"You son of a…" This time, the Spirit King wasn't as fortunate when Izumi slammed her flaming fist into the side of his face. The mysterious assailant dropped to the floor with a painful grunt; his mask was slightly cracked. "You have some nerve calling Celestial Spirits useless! They aren't some tools for you to use and then throw away when you are done! They are living creatures and deserve to be treated as such!"

"Spare me your idealistic fodder." The Spirit King replied mockingly. "Celestial Spirits are just that: spirits. They aren't alive – they are just magic given shape by the wizard. We can make the Celestial Spirits into any shape or form we wish; just look at Virgo."

"Why you…" Izumi snarled; black flames literally rolling off of her in waves. "I'm gonna beat the crap out of – Ugh!"

The Black Dragon Slayer didn't know how it happened. One moment she was ready to beat some sense into this _nečist _of a Celestial Spirit Wizard and the next, she was face first into the floorboards. The quick succession of painful cries that followed meant that Ur, Blaise, and Kane were also experiencing the same thing. Izumi's body felt alarmingly heavy to the point where she couldn't even lift her index finger. It didn't take a genius to figure out how it happened. It took a large part of her strength to turn her head, but she was able to spot Libra on the floor where they had left her. Apparently, the Heavenly Scales had managed to crawl across the stage to retrieve her missing dish and restore her gravitational powers.

"Master, I did it." Libra said happily, but with a slight tremble in her voice. "Does this make you happy, master?"

"Yes, it does actually." The Spirit King chuckled amusingly, returning to his feet and brushing the dust off his suit. "Perhaps you are not as useless as I suspected you were. Perhaps I shall reward you by not punishing you this time." Libra bowed her head gratefully; happy tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. This only pissed Izumi more than she already was. "Now about my reward. I think I've earned that Golden Gate Key of yours. It will look so much better when it is added to my collection."

"No way!" Izumi yelled, tightening her grip on the Gate Key as the thief stated tugging at it. "You'll never get mama's key!"

"Listen here, you miserable little…" The Spirit King growled.

All of a sudden, a geyser of water passed between the Celestial thief and the Black Dragon Slayer, effectively ending their game of tug-of-war. Libra was the unfortunate target of the aquatic surge, sputtering and flailing as the current carried her to the wall and forced her to drop her scale once again. There was a moment of pause – Izumi and the Spirit King blinked awkwardly at the drenched gypsy. Out of natural curiosity, the pair followed the water trail back to its originator. You could imagine the look on Izumi's face when she found…

"Marina?" Exclaimed comically. The Dragon Slayers guardian nodded in confirmation, lowering her hands to dissolve the Magic Circle she had created. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be back in Magnolia!"

"I got worried that you might be in trouble, so I hopped on the first train here." Marina explained, shooting an irritated look at the group. "And judging by the look of things, I hit the mark on this one. Honestly, can't you go one day without blowing something up?"

"Who are you supposed to be?" The Spirit King questioned interestingly.

"I'm that girl's guardian." Marina answered, cracking her knuckles in a threatening manner. "And if you know what's good for you, you'll run away with your cape between your legs."

"You think I'm scared of some girl's nanny." The Spirit King laughed.

"Master, wait a moment!" All eyes were on Libra, who seemed more frightened of the newcomer than her master. "Master, it would not be a wise decision to challenge her – she is very dangerous!"

"What are you talking about?" The Spirit King questioned.

"I've seen her before!" Libra stated urgently. "That woman is…"

"Augh!" The Spirit King screamed abruptly as he experienced a burning sensation on his wrist. With Libra's magic no longer in effect, Izumi had the freedom to move and made a quick grab for the thief's arm; her hand cover in a layer of black flames. "Let go of me, you little brat!"

The mysterious criminal kicked Izumi in the face, disorienting her long enough to pull back his arm. Though he had managed to escape the Black Dragon Slayer, he had inadvertently pissed off the rest of Team XL, who had also broken from Libra's spell. Marina summoned another storm of torrential water, Ur formed a bazooka made of ice, and Kane when directly with a devastating drop kick. If not for the Spirit King's swiftness, he would have been reduced to a stain on the floor. The masked thief slid close to the wall, looking over his options for this scenario. One man with weakling spirits against a Black Dragon Slayer, an Ice-Make wizard, an overprotective guardian, a transforming Exceed, and a man with superhuman strength. The prospects were not good.

As much as he hated the idea, the Spirit King realized he had no choice. Forcing Libra back through the spirit gate, the masked criminal leaped through the hole in the wall created by Taurus. Izumi and Kane were quick to jump after him, but by the time they were outside, the Spirit King had already vanished into the night.

"Damn it!" Kane shouted angrily, slamming him fists together to vent his rage. "He got away again!"

"Never mind that!" Ur called from inside. "Luke is still unconscious and a lot of the guests were injured in the panic! We need to get them medical attention immediately!"

"All right, all right." Kane grumbled.

While the Iron Fist of Fairy Tail trudged back inside, Izumi remained where she was, staring at the curtain of stars hanging above them. She thought about what the Spirit King said – how Celestial Spirits were nothing more than tools to be shaped and used according to the will of the user. And then her mind flashed briefly to Libra, crying from joy when she understood that she wasn't going to be punished. The Black Dragon Slayer clenched her fist until droplets of blood started to slip through her fingers. How could anyone call themselves Celestial Spirit Wizards with a mindset like that. Tools can't laugh, cry, smile the way Taurus, Scorpio, and Libra did. They were living creatures, damn it! The proof was right above their heads! But before Izumi could delve further into this internal debate, she felt a soft hand caress her shoulder. The Black Dragon Slayer slowly turned over to the sad expression on her guardian's face.

"Izumi, are you all right?" Marina asked with concern in her voice. When the foreign girl refused to answer, Marina kneeled closer to her level, forcing them to look at each other directly. "Izumi…are you hurt?"

"Why?" Izumi asked softly; she sniffed slightly. "Why do people treat spirits so badly, Marina. They're people like us, so why do people hurt them without considering their feelings?"

"As you already know…this isn't a perfect world." Marina sighed softly. "There are so people…who don't believe that spirits deserve to be treated fairly. Most of them just think that they are weapons to be used from missions and battles. They don't even care if the spirits get hurt because they are immortal. And it's not just Celestial Spirits either – humans tend to hurt each other for pleasure or profit. You would know that better than anyone."

"When Libra thought she was going to be punished…" Izumi murmured sadly. "She looked scared. My heart was hurting…because I wanted to protect her and I could do anything. I hate feeling like that."

"Oh, Izumi." Marina cooed, embracing her charge in a motherly fashion. "It just means that you have a good heart, just like your mother. Lucy loved all Celestial Spirits and would give her life to keep them safe. There was even a time when she yelled at the Celestial Spirit King to help Leo and she didn't back down even after the King threaten to destroy her."

"My mom was pretty cool." Izumi smiled.

"Yes…she was." Marina beamed, releasing the Dragon Slayer and patting her head. "Now let's get back inside. I'm sure there are a lot of people who could really use our help now."

Izumi nodded and allowed her guardian to take her hand before walking back to the ballroom. She hadn't held Marina's hand since she was nine years-old and she still felt safe around her. But she knew she couldn't rely on her Guardian to protect her forever. She needed to be stronger so that she could protect the people she cared about just like her mother, her father, Gray, and Master Erza. Taking one last look at the stars above, Izumi came to a decision. It was no longer about the reward, or pride, or restoring Fairy's Tails name.

This was about saving those Spirits.

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**Please, read and review.**

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**Seven-Fiore Translator**

**After a lot of thinking, I have chosen to emphasize the cultural differences between Seven and Fiore by incorporating another language through Izumi. I thought it would add to a more realistic approach since she is from another country and therefore add to her foreign character. Izumi is fluent in Fiore, but will occasionally fall back to her native language. Below are the translations used in this chapter.**

Nečist = bastard, impure  
Glup bogataški = stupid rich people.  
Ruke k sebi!= Hands off!  
Te izopačen krava! = You perverted cow!

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**Fairy Tail Guild Card**

**Name: **Asuka Cornell**  
Age:** 26**  
Magic: **Gun Magic  
**Likes: **Smoking, ammunition, Glace (?)  
**Dislikes: **Bringing up the past, anyone taking away her smokes**  
Relatives: **Alzack Connell (Father), Bisca Connell(Mother)  
**Description: **Hailed throughout Fiore as Asuka "Bull's-Eye" Connell, she is revered as the sharpest shooter in the country for never missing a single shot. She gained an addiction for smoking when she was 13 after Wakaba left his cigar unattended and has been sneaking puffs ever since. She was previously engaged to Glace Echo, but backed out at the last minute.


End file.
